


The Firsts

by cherryeol04



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming Out, First Kiss, First Meetings, First Relationship, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Humor, M/M, Multi, Relationship(s), Romance, Slice of Life, Smut, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, aiden is an honest sweetheart, but not really angst, clue is the best movie in existence, if you squint you can see the angst maybe, jerking off, jumps all over the place, mentions of 2min, mentions of minsung, mentions of woochan, the firsts, these boys are just trying to get through life., watching porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-14 18:44:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 29,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20605538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryeol04/pseuds/cherryeol04
Summary: "Aiden," Changbin spoke, voice soft but there was a sternness behind it that only Changbin could pull off. "Do you have a crush on Felix?" The question had Aiden whining and he turned away from Changbin. The other had finally caught on and he wanted nothing more than to hide from him now."You do don't you? Oh my gosh!" Aiden scrambled to cover Changbin's mouth to keep the other quiet, the flush still very prominent on his cheeks."Be quiet!" He whined, a pout playing on his lips as he stared at the other. Changbin raised a brow and he could the other's cheeks rise in a smile under his touch.





	1. The First Half

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> So um, technically this is the first Stay Kids fanfic I've written. I've honestly been working on this story for months and I'm still not happy with it. It's a compilation of little works, following our favorite boys, plus 1 through their lives (for the most part) as the just try to survive school while making friends, finding love and dealing with heartbreak. It may seem like a sporadic story and everything may not seem tied together, but it was written on purpose that way.
> 
> I do hope you give this story a chance!

Aiden was only 8 years old when he first met Changbin. The older boy was noticeably silent in most of the classes he had with the other. They both sat in the back row, Changbin two seats to his left. He always found it funny how Changbin would slowly lower himself in his chair when the teacher would start calling on students to answer questions, trying his hardest to never be noticed.

It usually worked.

Aiden found it entertaining the most, Changbin rocking from side to side to keep himself hidden; sometimes even covering his mouth to make sure he didn't make a noise. It wasn't like the work was hard. It was simple math usually, or reading. Almost everyone got the answers wrong, including himself. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Changbin said "here" every morning, he would have sworn that the guy was mute. It certainly seemed that way and he wondered if that's why he didn't seem to have friends either.

He must be lonely.

♡

During the lunch break, he decided to approach Changbin, after noticing that once more the other was eating alone. Standing before his desk, it was an awkward situation, really, as he watched Changbin pick and take small bites of the various items in his lunch box, seemingly not noticing his presence. Which was kind of weird considering he was peering down and nearly leering at the other in hopes to get his attention. After a minute or so of standing there, Aiden finally cleared his throat. Changbin jumped, his head jerking up quickly to look at him.

"Uh...?"

"Hi."

It was a simple answer to the confusion the other had. A small wave of his hand as he stood there, a shy smile gracing his lips.

"Hi?" Silence passed between them for a moment and the 8-year-old wondered exactly what he should do or say, though there was a pretty logical solution to be had. Simply ask to join Changbin for lunch. That's why he came over in the first place, wasn't it?

"Can I sit with you?" He asked. Changbin cocked his head in confusion and took a moment to look around him before finally lifting a finger and pointing at himself. "Yes, you." He laughed softly, his smile widening.    
  
"Why?"   
  
One word. That's all it took to have the nerves come rushing back. He wanted to run away, and pretend like this didn't happen. But it was too late for that. He was standing there, facing Changbin. It wasn't a bad thing that he wanted to eat with the other. He just hadn't expected the other to actually question him about it. So he answered, truthfully.    
  
"Because I wanted to. You seemed lonely." He said gently. It took a moment but eventually, Changbin hummed and nodded his head, a small smile gracing his lips as he accepted the answer.    
  
"Okay."   
  
Grinning widely, he stole the chair from the desk in front of Changbin's and turned it so he could sit down and face him, placing his lunch box on his side of the desk.    
  
"Is that Spider-Man?" Changbin asked as he stared at the front of the lunch box and he nodded.    
  
"Yeah!" He grinned. "He's my favorite superhero!"   
  
"Me too!" Changbin grinned and smiled at him.    
  
"That's cool! I'm Aiden!" He introduced himself as he opened his lunch box and pulled out his bag of fish crackers and opened it.   
  
"Seo Changbin!" Changbin said happily and Aiden laughed.    
  
"We're gonna be best friends, Binnie!" He said happily as he offered the other some of his crackers. The smile that spread over Changbin's lips had such a strange warmth coursing through Aiden. He had never felt something like this, but the little boy knew that he enjoyed seeing Changbin smile like that. He wanted to make sure the other always had such a pretty smile on his face.

\-----

It was supposed to be a fun night for the family. It was Aiden’s turn to pick the movie they were gonna watch and he already had the perfect movie in mind. It was a recent DVD release of an old movie that starred his favorite actor of all time, Tim Curry. It was a comedy-mystery based off of one of the most famous games - Clue.

Settling on the couch between his mom and dad, popcorn bowl in hand, the movie started and he was immediately engrossed. The mixture of horror, suspense and comedy were superb and the rollercoaster of emotions that he had been sent on was honestly ridiculous.

Never in his life before had he ever laughed so hard, screamed so loud and sobbed for so long. Crying has never been an act that had been discouraged in his family. In fact, he had caught both his parents crying at least once at various points of his life. But he had never actually cried in front of them. This was the first, and it was so embarrassing. Mostly because he was crying over a man that was probably 50 years his senior or more.

"Honey, why are you crying?" His mother asked, her hand moving to wipe away the tears falling from his eyes. He couldn't say anything, for every time he opened his mouth, he choked on a sob.

"It was a funny movie, son. You were supposed to laugh." The smile on his father's face irritated him because this wasn't funny. But he understood his father was just trying to cheer him up.

"Honey?" His mother implored again.

"I-I-" he paused and sniffed loudly before clearing his throat. "I just love him so much!" He sobbed, his hands coming up and covering his face.

"Baby boy, oh my gosh!" She said with a light chuckle. "I'm glad you enjoyed the movie but-"

"It's not the movie, it's him!" Aiden exclaimed as he pointed at the screen, Tim Curry's credit playing. "He's so handsome and funny and perfect!"

"Son, he's just an actor. An _ old _ actor." His father said.

"I know but I _love_ him!" He practically screamed through his tears. His parents laughed and he didn't understand why. Did they take pleasure in seeing their child crying like this? "It's not funny!"

"Yes, it is! Wait till I tell your aunt Linda about this." His mother giggled and shook her head as she covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Mom!" He squeaked out, his voice cracking as puberty decided to remind him she was still around.

"Listen, son, your love for this actor is just admiration. Trust me, you'll grow out of this."

"No, I won't!"

"Yes, you will. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Besides, by the time you're old enough to date him, he'll probably be dead." His father continued. He whined loudly and stood from the couch.

"I hate you!" He cried, voice cracking once more as he ran to his room upstairs, his parents laughter following after him. It was the first time he ever experienced heartbreak. Granted it was a stupid heartbreak over an actor that he couldn't have; but as a kid, it was still very painful. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that this would be the first of many heartbreaks in his life.

\------

Aiden plopped himself next to Changbin at the cafeteria table, sufficiently scaring his friend. The disgruntled mumbling coming from next to him fell on deaf ears, attention solely focused on the table that sat nearly across the large room. Huddled around the table was a group of boys chatting away happily but Aiden's eyes were only locked on one. A beautiful blonde with the cutest freckles he had ever seen.

"Hello?" Changbin called as he waved his hand in front of Aiden's face, snapping the other from his longing stare.

"What?" Aiden asked as he turned and looked at Changbin, eyes blinking a few times as he cocked his head to the side.

"You sat down and scared the crap out of me and then you just space out. Are you okay? Are you coming down with that sickness that everyone else in school has?" Changbin asked worriedly.

"Depends on what sickness." Aiden snickered and shook his head. Sighing softly, he closed his eyes, head shaking slightly. "It's nothing Binnie. I'm fine."

"Doesn't look like nothing." Changbin frowned as he sat down his sandwich and crossed his arms over his chest. Leaning back in his chair, he looked Aiden over for a moment, pulling a whine from Aiden as he was scrutinized. He hated it when Changbin did that. It was like he was trying to stare deep into his soul and pull out the truth from him.

It always worked too.

"Okay fine. It's that new transfer student in our grade."

"Felix?" Changbin asked and Aiden raised a brow, staring at him. "I have 3rd-period history with him. He's pretty funny."

Rolling his eyes, Aiden sighed, his attention turning back to the table he had been staring at. Felix was there, smiling and laughing at whatever conversation he was having with his friends. For a new student, he made friends fast and seemed to fit well with other students. It was very interesting and intrigued Aiden. To be so new and so popular. But then again, maybe it was because he was new that he was so popular. That seemed to make decent sense.

"You're spacing again." Changbin's voice called out and Aiden turned his head just in time to see Changbin turning his towards the table. "Were you staring at Felix?"

The question had Aiden's cheeks reddening. While he never actually said he was gay, he did nothing to hide it; openly staring at other guys with appreciation. But this was the first time it was being addressed by his best friend and there was a slight fear that maybe Changbin would react badly.

"Maybe." Bowing his head, he bit his bottom lip with worry. He wasn't sure if Changbin had heard him and the silence between them was deafening - even though children were screaming around them with laughter and gossip - and he was debating if he should say something or let the conversation drop.

"Aiden," Changbin spoke, voice soft but there was a sternness behind it that only Changbin could pull off. "Do you have a crush on Felix?" The question had Aiden whining and he turned away from Changbin. The other had finally caught on and he wanted nothing more than to hide from him now.

"You do don't you? Oh my gosh!" Aiden scrambled to cover Changbin's mouth to keep the other quiet, the flush still very prominent on his cheeks.

"Be quiet!" He whined, a pout playing on his lips as he stared at the other. Changbin raised a brow and he could the other's cheeks rise in a smile under his touch. "I don't want everyone to know!" It was a weak protest because it wasn't like Changbin had been that loud, and he highly doubted anyone could have heard him anyway over the rumble of voices inside the cafeteria. Aiden removed his hand from the other's mouth and heaved a heavy sigh, body slumping back into his chair.

"Well, I guess this explains why you never got interested in girls," Changbin commented as he picked his sandwich back up and bit into it.

"Well,...you're not wrong." Aiden laughed and shook his head. He knew from an early there was just something about guys that attracted him more to them than girls. As they entered junior high and all his friends started getting "girlfriends", he found himself not at all interested in them. He never thought of it as weird or a bad thing. He never really questioned it and no one else seemed to really care. Well, until now.

"You should talk to him."

"No!" Aiden practically screamed, sliding down in his chair as a few people turned to look in their direction.

"Why not?" Changbin asked, unbothered by the attention, which only pissed Aiden off. How could he be so calm and collected like that? He just made a fool of himself. The least Changbin could do was have the decency to be embarrassed with him.

"Because!" As if that was the most logical answer in the world. Changbin snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. You could at least be friends with him, then feel him out and find out if he would go swinging with you." Changbin commented nonchalantly.

"Swing - You mean if he swings my way?"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"No, you said swinging. I thought you meant like swinging at a park or something."

"Well, that too. Swinging is fun." Changbin said and grinned as Aiden rolled his eyes.

"No. There is no way I'll be friends with him or even talk to him." He pouted and looked back towards the table and Felix. "I'll just pine after him from afar."

"Your funeral."

\-----

It was the weirdest dream that Aiden had ever had and he wasn’t exactly sure why he had it or what it even meant. But it was strange enough that he was waking up at 4 am, Felix’s name falling from his lips as the last remnants of sleep escaped him. 

The TV in his room was still on -volume low as it cycled through video after video on YouTube - bathing him in a soft blue and white glow that allowed him to look around his room in the slight paralyzed state that he was in. This wasn’t the first time he had dreamt about Felix and it most likely wouldn’t be the last. But it was the first time that someone from outside his friend group had been involved in his dream. Knew about Felix and talked to him. 

It was rather strange and Aiden wondered what the hell had actually triggered the weird images and scenarios that had filled his mind. In the most direct way, the dream he had involved Felix being a family friend’s “baby boy”. Whether he was dating the older woman or was just a sugar baby, he couldn’t actually be certain. But what he knew was that his friend acted like he hadn’t known him in the dream. Didn’t want to talk to him and Aiden was pretty sure that dream Felix had been jacking off when he had taken the phone from the family friend. At least, that’s what his mind supplied with soft grunts and barely-there acknowledgments coupled with a lot of movement and noise on his end. 

And while dreaming of Felix masturbating on the phone for him would have been a nice wet dream, there was just something about knowing that he wasn’t there or interesting enough for Felix that really rubbed him the wrong way - an unsettling emotion washing over him as he finally turned to his left and stared at his phone that lay innocently on his bed. 

‘Would it be wrong to text him now?’ 

The thought raced through his mind faster than he could process the actual time that was blaring at him from the alarm app he had downloaded on his phone. 

4:10 am

His hand was reaching for his phone on its own, face scanned and recognized and screen unlocking before he could start talking himself out of it. The downside of having one of the newer phones on the market. He wanted so much to call Felix and express the weird, unsettling feelings he had about this dream, but how was he supposed to explain that he had a dream about Felix jacking off over the phone to a family friend he had never met without sounding like a creep? Their friendship wasn’t a stable or solid one, at least not that he was sure of. They had only hung out a few times outside of the times they had interacted at school and while that has been more than enough for Aiden, he highly doubted that it was enough to deem each other worthy of being close friends that could dream about each other. 

“Hello?”

Unlike the friendship, he had with Changbin. 

“I’m fucked.”

“No shit. It’s 4 fucking am. What the hell are you doing calling me?”

“Binnie.” The pathetic whine that left Aiden caught Changbin’s attention and Aiden could tell as he heard the other shifting on his bed, voice sound clearly compared to the groggy greeting he got moments ago. 

“What’s wrong?” His voice was soft and Aiden almost melted at the sound. The hardness in Changbin’s voice was barely there and Aiden was so thankful to have the kindness he was getting now because he honestly didn’t know what was going on with him and he needed to be able to talk to someone who would understand his strangeness. Changbin was the perfect person, having put up with Aiden’s strangeness since they were kids. 

“I had this dream.” He started in, a soft sigh leaving him as he laid back on his bed. “This family friend of ours was over and she was calling and talking to Felix -“

“The fuck?”

“I know, so weird right?” He asks and sighed. “And I was like ‘I know Felix! I’ll talk to him!’ So while she was busy doing something I took the phone to talk to Felix. But all I got was like grunts and he didn’t acknowledge I was there, even when I called his name.” He paused for a moment, trying to see if Changbin was still awake and paying attention to him. It wouldn’t be the first time the other fell asleep on Aiden while on the phone with him. 

“Really? That seems so unFelix like.” His voice was softer, words slightly slurred but he could tell Changbin was trying to keep himself awake. 

“I know. But he was moving a lot and I could swear that he was...” he trailed off, cheeks flushing at the thought of what he was about to say. Despite Changbin already knowing about his crush on the Australian, it was still embarrassing to admit he had a semi sexual dream about Felix. 

“He was what?”

“Jacking off.”

“E-excuse me, what?!” Changbin sputtered and all evidence of sleepiness disappeared from his voice. “Wait, let me get this straight. You dreamt a family friend - who is clearly older than both of you - was talking to Felix and you wanted to talk to Felix, but he was ignoring you and now he was jacking off on the phone? Which in a weird roundabout way means he was jacking off for that friend. Am I understanding this correctly?” Changbin asked and god was this a time that Aiden hated the fact that Changbin knew him so well. He didn’t even need to connect the dots for Changbin to come to the same conclusion that he had when he first woke up and started thinking about the dream. 

“Yeah.” A whisper that was borderline a sob because honestly, it sounded so stupid. It was stupid. Why was he like this?

“Jesus Aiden, you _ are _ fucked.”

“Thanks.” There was no bite after that comment, though he wished there had been. Changbin’s laughter that filtered through the other end of the phone made his blood boil slightly - he was mostly just absolutely mortified over his own damn brain. 

“Sorry.” Changbin apologized and sighed softly. “Aiden, that’s a weird dream but don’t think too much about it. You’re a young guy with a healthy libido and a crush on a cute guy with the most adorable freckles that -“

“Changbin.”

“You get where I’m going. It’s natural to have dreams about your crush jacking off.” Changbin finished with a chuckle. “I bet that family friend was just your brain’s way of justifying why you were hearing Felix jacking off. You just weren’t ready to think of yourself in that position with him.”

“Changbin, I love you, but you’re crazy. There is absolutely no way Felix would be my baby boy. I'm 100% an uber bottom. I’m not out here trying to be a daddy.” Aiden snorted, joining Changbin in his laughter at the statement. 

“You’re not wrong. But you still got those feelings. Or maybe you want him to call you baby boy.” Changbin teases. 

“Fuck, more than anything,” Aiden whispered, eyes closing for a moment as he imagined those words falling from Felix’s lips - whispered in that deep honeysuckle voice that sent shivers down his spine anytime he heard it. Which was usually only during music class the music class he shared with Felix when the other had to sing for the teacher or right after playing one of the wind instruments their teacher loved to torture them with - the recorder specifically. Those two words directed at him as he lay beneath Felix, body pliant and willing. 

“Good god you need to get laid.”

“I wish but the guy I want to fuck my brains out is barely my friend. Besides, I don’t even think he has sexual thoughts.”

“The majority of people in the world have sexual thoughts, Aiden.”

“Yeah well, we’re teenagers -“

“Teenage pregnancy.”

“Damn it Changbin! I’m trying to make a valid argument over why I can’t have Felix. Be a little supportive will you?” Aiden nearly growled out in frustration. Changbin’s laughter didn’t help the situation and he let out a loud, long growl. “I’m so fucked.” He grunted. 

“And not by Felix.” Changbin jabbed. 

“I really hate you.”

“Go to sleep lover boy. I’ll see you at school.” Changbin snickered, a yawn following and Aiden couldn’t stop his own yawn from taking over him. 

“Mmm, okay. See you later Binnie.” He whispered as he rolled onto his side, getting comfortable on his bed. “Night.” The words came out mumbled as he was already drifting back to sleep, the late-night phone call taking away the weird feelings he had. There was a soft hum of acknowledgment that flitted through Aiden’s subconscious and he could have sworn he heard a “night, baby” as he finally fell asleep, phone nestled between his head and pillow.

\-----

Aiden wasn’t sure if taking music had been the best choice for him. He knew he needed to have a few elective classes, not everything could be just the core classes. But when given the option, music seemed to have been the only option that wouldn’t require that much work. After all, what could the teacher possibly want from them, other than learn to sing maybe? Or read music? That couldn’t be too hard and it was certainly better than taking a public speaking course or horticulture. 

Going in, he had been optimistic, but by halfway through the year, the young boy wanted to drop out and pretend like this didn’t happen. Though, he supposed the good thing about the class was that Felix was in it, giving Aiden something to do besides sleeping in class. Being friends with Changbin, he had learned a few things about not being noticed by the teacher and Aiden prided himself on never being called on or seen.

“And lastly, your final project for the class will involve you creating your own piece of music.” The class erupted in groans at the announcement, Aiden’s voice whining the loudest as he rested his head on his desk, eyes closed. He was regretting his life choices, which weren’t many since he was only thirteen. “It only needs to be a minute long, grading will be lenient. I don’t expect any of you to create a grande sonata that will move me from my seat.” The teacher spoke and Aiden could only roll his eyes. He highly doubted that anyone could even compose a one minute piece in this class, let alone a whole sonata.

“The theme of the song is Love and you can use any instrument you feel comfortable playing.” The teacher droned on a little longer about the different instruments that would be available to the students as they worked on this project. If he was being honest with himself, he was really hoping someone would compose a piece on the trumpet. That would be hilarious and if anything maybe it would make the teacher’s ears bleed so the rest of them would automatically get an A. Wishful thinking, really. 

The bell rang, jerking Aiden from his thoughts and he sat up straight, looking around. The students around him stood and started filing out of the room to head to their next period class. A soft groan left him as he slumped in his chair slightly, trying to gather the will to get up and make his way to the gym, a class he _ really _ wished he could just drop.

~*~

Aiden wanted to toss his phone against the wall in frustration. Of all the days he had to stay late at school, it just had to be today. It wasn’t bad enough that he was given a stupid project from his music teacher, or the fact that they had played dodgeball in gym and he was currently sporting a large bruise on his side. Certainly, his bad luck would have ended when his English professor had given the class a pop quiz and he was the only one who failed. But no, the icing on the cake was the fact that Changbin was inviting him out to go to the grand opening of the new amusement park and he couldn’t go. Not that it was the end of the world. The amusement park would be there anytime he decided he wanted to go, but he would only get one chance to go to a grand opening, where everything was discounted and they gave out special prizes for the visitors. This was a once in a lifetime chance to go! And he couldn’t because he had to stick around and figure out which stupid instrument he was going to play for the stupid project that probably counted for his entire grade in the class (because let’s face it, he wasn’t the best student).

**Binnie:**

Are you for real? I told you to drop that stupid course

**Aiden:**

Don’t rub it in, man. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Save me some sweets

**Binnie:**

I’ll try ;P

Aiden stuck out his tongue at the phone, eyes rolling at the comment. Even though Changbin was teasing, he highly doubted he would get any sweets from the other. With a heavy sigh, Aiden dragged his feet across the floor as he made his way down the nearly empty hall to the music room. There were a few students that were still taking their time to leave campus, but for the most part, there was no left unless it was club members for extracurricular activities. 

Reaching the music room, he opened the door, eyes scanning the room as he stepped in. There was only one other body in the room and once Aiden’s brain registered who the person was, he instantly wanted to turn around and leave. But he was already spotted as Felix turned and tossed him a smile. 

“Hello, Aiden.”

_ Do not swoon. Do not swoon. _

Aiden forced a smile on his face and gave a slight head nod. “Hi.” he gritted out. His mind was racing with thoughts to just calm down and breathe. Everything was going to be fine. Only it wasn’t fine because Felix was in the room with him. This perfect, gorgeous boy was just mere feet away and they were alone together. It almost seemed like some romance anime or manga, where the two main characters were alone in a classroom. Now all that was needed was some sort of incident that would have the two drawn close to each other, their eyes locking and some cheesy music playing in the background.

_ But this isn’t an anime, idiot. _

“Here to find your instrument?” Felix asked, eyes glancing over Aiden, taking in his appearance before lifting to look back at his face. 

“Yeah.” Aiden sighed as he reminded as to what he was doing there. “I take it you’re here as well to do that.” he said and Felix nodded. “Have you figured it out?” Aiden asked, moving closer to the other as much as he dared, but he didn’t get too close because he wasn’t entirely sure how he would react being so close to his crush. Just being alone with him in the same room was making it difficult to concentrate.

“Well, I was thinking about the Piano. But then I thought, everyone is going to pick the piano. So then I was going to pick the guitar but I had the same thought again.” Felix explained and Aiden was in awe at how much the other talked, mainly because he hadn't really seen or heard the other talk this much. “I don’t want to be like everyone else. I want to stand out and shine above the rest.”

“I think you already do that.” As soon as the words left his lips, Aiden mentally smacked himself, eyes glancing over at the other slyly to see what his reaction was. The surprised look had him feeling extremely embarrassed. 

“Really?” Felix asked and smiled softly. “Thank you. I think you stand out too.”

Aiden snorted and shook his head. “In whose world? I'm the blandest and most common person in the world.” he muttered. 

“That's not true.” The tone in Felix's voice had Aiden cocking his head in curiosity. “You stand out more than you think.” Felix said with a firm nod. “No matter what you decide, it'll be an amazing piece.”

Aiden would be lying if he said his heart didn't flutter at that statement. He hadn't expected Felix to say such a nice thing to him, and they hadn't really interacted much. It was very sweet. He really liked it. “Thank you, Felix.” he smiled warmly at the other. “But you certainly stand out far more than I do. And, I think that regardless of what instrument you choose, your piece will be very unique and beautiful. I look forward to hearing it.”

“Thanks.” Felix chuckled and that beautiful sound did absolutely nothing to calming Aiden's racing heart. Honestly, this crush was getting out of hand. “Well, I guess I'll just choose piano, I really do love that instrument.” he said as he grabbed the sign up sheet and started writing down his name. “Decided yet?” he asked. 

“Not yet.” Aiden hummed as he looked at the instruments locked in the storage lockers. “But I'll figure out something.”

“Okay, but don't think too long, you may get locked in here.” Felix teased as he grabbed his bag once done and started for the door. “I'll see you tomorrow, Aiden.” he called and Aiden smiled, waving to him. Left alone in the music, Aiden let out a sigh. 

_ Okay, what instrument? Something cool. Something that will impress Felix. Shouldn't be too hard. _ Aiden was hoping to only be there another five minutes, but the decision proved to be harder than he thought. Eventually, though, he settled for an instrument he had only played a few times before and prayed he could make this work.

\-----

Aiden eyed Changbin hard as the other fiddled with his laptop. The two boys sat in Changbin’s room on a particularly hot summer afternoon. It was the kind of hot that the simple thought of breathing exhausted them, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing had they been at Aiden’s house. His mother always insisted on running the air conditioning during the summertime to keep everyone sane - he sadly couldn’t say the same thing for Changbin’s mom, who insisted they just open the window and let the fresh air in. 

They had toyed with the idea of going somewhere to escape the heat, but anytime either of them thought about walking outside in the sweltering heat they decided against the idea. That’s when Changbin got an oh so great idea, one that Aiden was questioning the sanity of. “How do you even know what sites to go to? Did you like, google it?” He asked, eyes locked on the screen as Changbin pulled up a porn site. Images of naked men and women danced on the screen - most advertisements but the middle portion was dedicated strictly for the videos uploaded to the site. Aiden honestly wasn’t sure if he was turned on or repulsed by some of the lewd positions these men and women were in. 

“Yeah.” Changbin answered, startling Aiden out of his internal debate of if he was going to throw up or not at the site of a woman spread eagle in the thumbnail of a video while Changbin scrolled through. “Haven’t you watched porn before?” 

“I’m a good Christian boy.” Aiden huffed with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t partake in the sins of the flesh.” The forced exhale of laughter from Changbin had Aiden pouting. 

“Right. This coming from the guy who is making it a habit of waking me up in the middle of the night to tell me about his sexual dreams with Felix. Yeah, good Christian boy my ass.” He retorted and sighed. 

“Shut up! Okay listen, I’ve never thought of doing that okay?” Aiden whined, cheeks flushed with embarrassment because really, he felt like he was a weird kid. He was sure there were plenty of young men who spent their time watching porn and getting off. It was natural, or at least he assumed. 

“Wait.” Changbin shifted beside Aiden on his spot on the bed, eyes staring intently at him and Aiden actually shivered under the gaze - eyes averted away. “So how do you know you’re gay?” He asked. It was a stupid question, but Aiden would be lying if he said he hadn’t questioned himself about that before. He had researched “how do you know if you’re gay” with safe search on. Maybe that’s what has kept him from seeing porn until now. 

“I mean, I like Felix and I have dreams about him. Doesn’t that make me gay?” Aiden asked confused, though he still refused to look at Changbin. 

“Yeah, but have you ever touched a dick before?” Changbin grunted when Aiden smacked his arm, their eyes locking once more as Aiden frowned. 

“I’ve never seen porn before, but I know how to jack off, idiot.” 

“Yeah but have you touched someone else’s dick before?” The question had Aiden falling silent as he contemplated if it really mattered if he had touched another guy’s dick or not. Weren’t they all the same? Wasn’t it all the same? Was jacking off not considered a sign of knowing if he was gay?

“No?” He hadn’t meant to sound so unsure because the answer was a definitive no, he had touched no other dicks but his own. And yet he couldn’t help but feel shy and embarrassed for having that answer, a similar feeling he got when he was called to answer a question in class and was wrong. “Have you?”

“No. But I’m not the gay one.” Changbin shot back and Aiden groaned, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. He looked towards the screen again and sighed. “So you’ve never watched porn and never touched another dick? Wow, you’re just an unconfirmed gay virgin.” Changbin teaser, a light laugh leaving him, but when Aiden didn’t laugh with him and avoided eye contact, he stopped and his smile fell. 

“Aiden? Hey, you know it’s okay right? I’m just teasing.”

“I know!” Aiden said quickly, but his insides were swimming with such a mixture of emotions that he wasn’t entirely sure what he felt most, embarrassment, self pity, arousal even? It was very confusing for him. He jerked when he felt a hand touching his shoulder and he shyly lifted his gaze to meet Changbin’s. 

“Do you wanna, touch mine?” 

The question had Aiden sputtering in shock, eyes wide and cheeks now a darker shade of red than it had been before. “Do what? No! That would be so weird!” He exclaimed. “We’re like best friends.”

“Yeah, and best friends help each other out.” Changbin shrugged. “You know, gotta make sure you’re actually gay before you embarrass yourself in front of Felix.” Aiden whined at that, but Changbin had a point. It couldn’t hurt, right? After all, Changbin was offering. 

“You’re sure it’s okay?” 

“Yeah, let me just find something that’ll get you off and -“

“What about you? I thought you weren’t gay?” Aiden questioned. 

“Hmmm.” Changbin hummed in thought. “I’m an equal opportunistic person. It’s fine.” He waved his hand at Aiden, his other hand gliding across the trackpad of the laptop to find the ‘gay’ section of the website. He scrolled for a bit after finding it and ended up choosing a video that looked pretty amateurish but the two guys were pretty young and twinkish. Given Aiden’s current crush, he figured these guys would be his type. 

Aiden wasn’t entirely too sure about this half baked plan, yet there was something exciting about it. He wasn’t sure what it was, but the idea of actually touching another dick was appealing if the surge of arousal that ran down his spine was anything to go by. Sitting back against the headboard, his eyes stared at the video that was slowly buffering while Changbin fought to close the six pop-ups about meeting hot singles in their area. 

Grumbling to himself, Changbin finally got the pop-ups closed and the video began playing - volume set low though he swore it was extremely loud. Perhaps it was because they were trying to watch porn in the middle of the day, and Changbin’s mother was out in the backyard tending to her garden. It was risky but thrilling and that alone had him half hard. But he was still hesitant, not sure if he should just whip his dick out now and start touching it. While he wasn’t a stranger to touching himself, it was different when someone else was in the room with him - almost embarrassing. 

Changbin settled next to him, his hand rested on his abdomen and looking so very comfortable and not at all fazed by this situation. Aiden almost envied how calm and collected he seemed to be and decided that maybe he would just imitate that other; settling himself in the same position as Changbin, eyes moving to focus back on the laptop where the lewd, slurping sounds were spilling from. 

Five minutes or 3 hours - Aiden couldn’t be sure - passed, and the video only seemed like it was halfway done. The two men had only recently just started fucking and by now Aiden knew of two different positions you could have sex in. He was learning a lot, but at some point he had stopped analyzing and started feeling. Feeling how hard he was, how hearing the moans from the strangers on the screen sent weird yet pleasant sparks of white-hot something through him. It was a sensation he hadn’t experienced before but he liked it, he liked it a lot. His hand slowly slipped from its resting place on his stomach and casually slid down to the front of his sweats - tented from his straining erection, a small wet spot forming. 

His pinkie was the first to graze it, touch light and airy. He inhaled harshly because _ fuck _ if that didn’t feel good. His cock twitched, throbbed and Aiden wanted nothing more than to wrap his hand around it and start stroking. But he stopped himself, unsure if he should because Changbin was still there. And even though he offered to let Aiden touch his dick, he hadn’t uttered a single word since the start of the video. Biting his lower lip, Aiden decided to take a quick peek at Changbin, eyes shifting to the other male and widening at the sight. 

“Hey! You said I could touch it.” He all but whined out, Changbin’s hand stilling over his hard member, head turning to face him. His cheeks were flushed bright red, lips parted as soft pants left them. 

“Sorry?” He muttered out breathlessly, a smirk playing across his lips. “You didn’t seem to be interested in doing much. You haven’t even touched yourself.” Changbin noticed and Aiden didn’t know what was hotter, how deep Changbin’s voice sounded when he was horny or the fact the other had actually been watching and waiting for him to start touching himself. Maybe both were equally hot? His cock seemed to think so as it gave another twitch at the thought, a reminder that it was still hard and needed attention. 

“Oh.” It was a pathetic response and Aiden lowered his head in slight shame. The laughter that Changbin let out only added to the shame and embarrassment that he felt and briefly he thought that maybe this was a mistake. He wasn’t given the chance to even suggest that maybe they should stop when he felt fingers close around his wrist with gentle pressure. The movement was hesitant, Changbin giving him the chance to pull his hand away. Aiden let his hand be guided, though, watching with a curious gaze and excitement building up inside him as his hand was placed over the straining erection of his best friend. It was instinct that his fingers curled and closed around it and Aiden marveled at the feeling. 

It was different. He couldn’t explain why or how, but feeling Changbin hot and heavy in his hand was so different than feeling himself in his hand. He loved it. Aiden moved his hand, angle awkward as he did his best to stroke the other - going slow at first as he watched Changbin’s expression for confirmation of how he was feeling. His lips were parted, soft moans leaving him as his hand fell from Aiden’s wrist, letting the other do what he wanted. 

“I-Is this okay?” Soft, meek, Aiden would have been embarrassed for just how damn shy and unsure he sounded at that moment, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was more worried about making Changbin feel good.

“Harder.” Aiden’s hands faltered for a moment, brows furrowing at the words. He found Changbin’s hand resting over his, fingers pressing into Aiden’s to tighten his grip and - oh. “Fuck.”

Who would have figured such a simple word could cause such a burning desire to bubble up in Aiden’s chest, a moan tumbling from his lips. Shit, how embarrassing. Was he supposed to be getting off on the sounds of Changbin? Wasn’t that weird? There were so many questions racing through his mind, but he had to push them to the back and focus. Focus on the hot cock twitching in his hand, precum beading up at the slit. He thought about tasting it but decided against it. That would surely be too weird for friends to do. 

His hand worked over Changbin at a steady and even pace. On each upstroke, he would give a little squeeze just under the head, an action he found that Changbin seemed to like, as his head fell back against the headboard with a loud thunk - more sinful moans falling filling the air. 

“Binnie,” he brought his bottom lip between his teeth once more as he watched the way Changbin’s back arched, hips jerking up into his hand, driving his cock faster into his fist. “Changbinnie~” he tried again, successfully getting the other’s attention this time. Dark eyes clouded with lust locked with his and Aiden gasped sharply, lips pressing together to suppress a moan because _ fuck _if that look wasn’t hot. 

“What is it?” Aiden stuttered, stumbling over his words as he tried to tell Changbin that he wanted to be touched too, but the words simply wouldn’t come out. The corner of Changbin’s lip curled upwards and Aiden pouted, whining in frustration. 

“Me too.” He sounded like a child, wanted to be included and Changbin could only chuckle as he shifted on the bed - weight resting more on his left side as he reached over and ghosted his fingers over Aiden’s crotch, pulling a loud gasp from the other. 

“I barely touched you.”

“Felt good anyway.” Aiden whispered, eyes closing and his head turning away from embarrassment. Changbin laughed lightly, head shaking at the comment. Aiden was truly something else. His hand cupped Aiden, fingers closing around him it lightly, stroking slowly. Aiden’s hips jerked up at the touch, loud whimpers and moans leaving him. 

“Be quiet, don’t want my mom to hear.” Changbin scolded lightly, receiving a whine in protest, yet Aiden bit his bottom lip to try and stifle the noises that wanted to spill from him. The pleasure he felt was different. It was stronger, heightened and he could only imagine it was like that because someone else was touching him. It was exhilarating. 

“Binnie.” Aiden breathed, breath hitching as he jerked his hips up again, his cock sliding against the loose fist around his still covered cock. “Please.” He practically begged. Changbin grunted and tightened his grip, but his hand was slow - almost lazy - as he mimicked the pace Aiden had slowed to on his own dick. 

“This better?” 

“No.” It sounded almost like a growl, Aiden’s brows furrowed together in frustration because it certainly wasn’t better. Sure Changbin was stroking him but it wasn’t nearly as fast as Aiden wanted. It was like a small sizzle of fire just under his skin and he needed some winds to fan the flames and make him burn. 

“Maybe you should start moving your hand then.” Changbin quipped, smirk dancing on his lips as Aiden finally turned his head back and stared at Changbin. 

“You’re the worst.” He whispered with a pout and Changbin snorted. 

“Hey, I wanna get off too. So start stroking.” Aiden rolled his eyes, but his grip tightened around Changbin and he started stroking him once more. His mind was focused once more on how Changbin felt in his hand, and the lewd moans he was pulling from the other, so loud against his ear. And he was the one that was supposed to be quiet? “Fuck, just like that.” Hot and heavy - breathless - the words were whispered, Changbin’s lips grazing against his ear as he shifted closer to him. The hand left him, and Aiden was close to sobbing and begging for more that it was actually humiliating. But he wanted it so badly. He needed Changbin’s hand on him. 

Thankfully, before any words could leave his lips, Changbin’s hand slipped under the hem of his sweatpants and underwear. The second skin met skin, Aiden could swear he saw heaven because fuck if that didn’t feel amazing. “Binnie.” Aiden whimpered pathetically, his voice nearly inaudible over the loud hiss Changbin let out as Aiden squeezed him just a little too hard. Panting harshly, Changbin gripped Aiden and stroked him quickly, chuckling as Aiden jerked and trembled under his tongue. His thumb grazed over the head, smearing each bead of precum that bubbles up. 

Aiden groaned as he lowered his head to rest on Changbin’s shoulder, eyes screwed shut as he basked in the pleasure the other was causing. Briefly, he released Changbin’s cock long enough to shift himself into a more comfortable position facing the other. Reaching back down, he grabbed Changbin again and started stroking him - mimicking the way Changbin’s fingers moved over his cock. His movements were quick and not nearly as clean as Changbin’s but it seemed to be enough. Breaths mixed and mingled, moans lingering in the silent room as the two boys worked to get each other off. 

It was embarrassing how quickly Aiden reached his end, the heat in his gut cooling tighter and tighter. “Changbin.” He breathed out, wiggling against the other to grip the other’s wrist with his free hand and failing. “Stop, gonna cum.” Even with the warning, Changbin didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping. It only seemed to spur him on more as he stroked his cock faster. He was twitching and leaking heavily in Changbin’s grasp. “Chang-“

“Cum.” The demand whispered so hotly in his ear had Aiden tensing, his body reacting on its own. Needy whines and choked gasps fell past parted lips as Aiden’s head fell back onto the pillows behind him as he came into Changbin’s hand. It was intense, an orgasm that Aiden didn’t think it was possible he could have. He certainly couldn’t get himself off this well. 

“Fuck, shit.” He gasped out, muscles slowly relaxing as the last wave of ecstasy washed over him. The soft hum from Changbin captured Aiden’s attention and he reminded of what he should have been doing. He started moving his still hand once more, finding the movement slicker and as he looked down he realized Changbin already came - his cock softening in his hand, so he released him. He was at a loss for words now, both of them quiet save for their pants as they rode down their highs. 

Silently, Changbin reached over Aiden and grabbed a few tissues from his bedside table. Cleaning up their messes took a bit of time and in the end, Aiden was sure there was probably some cum that got on the comforter. “So, have fun?” Changbin asked as he tossed the wads of tissues into the trash can. 

“Yeah.” Aiden swallowed thickly, tongue swiping against his dry lips in an effort to revitalize them. “That was mind-blowing.” He said and laughed lightly. 

“You think that was mind-blowing? Wait till you actually have sex.” Changbin snorted as he settled back down in his bed, laptop long-forgotten near the end. 

“You’ve had sex?” Aiden asked in shock, eyes wide. How could his best friend not tell him something that important?

“No, I’m just saying.” Changbin said quickly. “I hear it’s supposed to be really good.”

“Oh.” Aiden wasn’t at all convinced, but he would let it go for now. 

“So, can you say with 100% conviction that you’re gay?” Changbin asked, reminding Aiden of the whole point of them even jerking each other off. 

“Oh! Yeah.” He said, a goofy smile spreading over his lips. “Dicks are fucking amazing.”

“Are they now?” 

“Completely. I wonder if Felix has a nice dick?” Aiden contemplated, crying out when Changbin shoved him roughly off his bed. “Dude!”

“I just got you off and you’re talking about another man. Not in my bed!” Aiden stuck his tongue out at Changbin, laughing lightly. 

“Whatever. Wanna shower?” He asked and Changbin nodded. “Cool, but no butt stuff!” Aiden said as he climbed to his feet, grinning. 

“I swear to god, I’m going to drown you under the showerhead.” Changbin threatened half-heartedly, pulling another laugh from Aiden as the male walked naked from his room. 

“You know you love me!” 

Yeah, maybe he did.

\----

This was the first time in Aiden's life that he didn't have any classes with Changbin. The other boy wasn't even attending the same high school as him. While Changbin had decided to go to a school that was closer to his home, Aiden had chosen to go to the Performing arts school. His interest in acting and music scoring had grown over the years and it had been a big decision. Not one that his parents had been extremely happy about but none the less they were going to support his choice. His happiness was their only concern and it was very endearing to Aiden - who made it his mission to graduate at the top of his class. He had to repay them for all they were doing for him.

Attending a new school was always a daunting task and being a first-year student at the high school was even scarier. He had heard the rumors of what upperclassmen would do to the lowerclassmen and he wanted to be as far from those people as possible. He had no friends at school, most of them opting to attend other high schools that focused more on normal studies. While making friends wasn't hard for Aiden, it still gave him extreme anxiety because he knew he could be a "little much" at times.

Walking down the overly crowded halls of the school, Aiden glanced from the paper in his hand to the doors he passed, searching for his homeroom class, probably the only constant he would have for this first year. Following the signs to the back portion of the building, he noticed that the bodies were starting to thin out and he was rather thankful for that. Fewer people to think he looked like an idiot trying to find his classroom.

Rounding a corner, which he was sure was the right direction for his room, he paused as he saw a small group of 4 students huddled together, papers strewn about on the floor. He wondered if someone had dropped their things and he had half a mind to go and help pick them up, but the situation became entirely different when a binder was slung to the side by one of the guys and landed with a loud slam against the tile floor. And from between bodies, he saw a hand reaching out to grab for the item.

His blood boiled.

As a kid he had never been subjected to bullying - always friends with all the right people or he simply just avoided those kinds of people. But he had witnessed the aftermath of a few bullying attacks and each time left a horrible stain on his psyche. It wasn't right to pick on someone who was smaller, weaker or even different from you and Aiden was a firm believer in treating everyone equally unless they proved themselves to be an ugly human being.

These kids were ugly human beings, and the hate for them was only growing as he watched for a brief moment as they pushed and teased the boy on the ground. It was an automatic reaction, body moving on its own before he could even register his own actions. He grabbed one of the guy's arms and yanked him away and while the guy was taller and bigger - probably an upperclassman - Aiden swung and landed a hard right hook against the guy's cheek, sending him stumbling back into his three friends.

"Leave him alone!" He hissed trying his hardest to seem like a big tough guy when in reality he was probably more like an angry kitten after getting a bath. Whether it was just luck or these guys didn't want to call his bluff, the four boys scurried away, muttering curses as they did. "Cowards." Aiden snorted, though he was glad they gave up easily. He was absolutely sure he wouldn't have been able to stand up to all four of them if they had decided to attack him.

The shuffling of papers caught his attention and he looked down at the boy that was scurrying to pick up his things. Kneeling down, Aiden started helping, careful with any loose papers and stacking them neatly on top of the recently abused binder. "Here." His voice was soft but carried through the empty hall.

"Thanks." The male finally looked at him and Aiden smiled as he stared into the kindest face he had ever seen.

"No problem. You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, for...um...saving me." It was an awkward thank you because really, what guy wanted to be "saved" from bullies. It was an embarrassing situation to have been put into.

"Don't mention it. I'm Aiden." He said as he sat back on his knees, the other sitting back as well. Aiden's eyes ran over his face and neck, checking for any marks but he didn't see any, which was a relief.

"Seungmin." He introduced himself with a careful, almost shy smile.

"Pleasure to meet you Seungmin. Um, I'd hate to bother you after what happened, but do you know where room 1845 is?" Aiden asked. Might as well ask the other if he happened to know where his homeroom was.

"Oh? Um, I think down this hallway. I was on my way there when those seniors cornered me." Seungmin mentioned and Aiden hummed.

"So you're a first-year too?" The nod was all the confirmation Aiden needed as he grinned widely. "Awesome! Well since we're going to the same place, wanna walk together?" He asked.

"Are you sure?" Seungmin seemed a little wary as he placed his things back in his bag and climbed to his feet, Aiden following suit.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Aiden asked and chuckled. "Come on." He said as he casually tossed his arm around Seungmin's shoulder. He stiffened, but only for a moment before he relaxed and started walking with Aiden. Aiden grinned as he walked with the other, making small talk about nothing in particular and pleased when Seungmin would carry on the conversation. It made him happy and while he usually hated the first day of school, it seemed like today wouldn't be that bad. At least he made a new friend. He couldn't wait to tell Changbin when he got home. Maybe growing up wasn't such a bad thing.

\------

“Thor.”

“Loki.”

“Thor!”

“Loki!”

“Neither!” Seungmin and Minho stopped dead in their tracks as they stared at Aiden with narrowed eyes. He hadn’t really wanted to get in between their little quarrel over which brother was hotter, Thor or Loki, but it had been going on for the past four hours and Aiden was actually tired of it.

“Excuse you?” Minho asked with a raised brow. “Have you ever watched Thor?” He asked. 

“No.”

“Do you even Marvel?” Seungmin asked and Aiden shook his head. “Then you can’t contribute to this conversation!!!” He exclaimed, cheeks puffing out in frustration. 

“Oh, well excuse me!” Aiden held up his hands in defense and slipped between the two, walking ahead of them. There was silence for a brief moment before the two boys were back at their argument, trailing behind Aiden as they made their way up the long driveway. Bang Chan was a friend of Changbin’s and was extremely popular, or so Aiden had heard. His family was originally from Australia, but they moved when his father got a chance to expand their business in the Korean market - he was known as a self-made millionaire which of course made Chan a hit with all the people that wanted his family’s money. 

He was a sweet guy, if not a bit reserved and wary of people. But he has hit it off with Changbin one day during chemistry and the rest was history - though it had only been a couple of months. Chan has offered to host study sessions at his place and who were they to refuse such a generous offer? Their first visit, Aiden had expected to see a mansion but was greeted with a modest house. Decent size and you could tell that the place was pricey, but it didn’t scream wealth which had surprised Aiden but at the same time was a blessing. It put Chan in a different light for him - though rich, he was still a normal person and his family tried to live modestly. True role model. 

Knocking on the door, it was opened in less than a minute to a bright-eyed and smiling Chan. “Hey guys.”

“He-“

“Channie hyung! Thor or Loki?” Minho asked as he pushed Aiden lightly, the male stumbling to the house. 

“Whoa.” Chan wrapped his arms around Aiden quickly to catch him before he went tumbling down, eyes looking back at the other two. “Loki.” He said. 

“Ha! See, I told you!” Seungmin cheered happily, Minho simply rolling his eyes and scoffing. 

“Uncultured swine.” He snorted and made his way into the house - as if he owned the place - with a shake of the head. “Thor is the better of the two brothers and you can’t change my mind.” He huffed. 

“How can you say that when Loki is literally the best at everything?” Seungmin questioned as he followed quickly behind Minho, their voices fading as they disappeared around the left corner and into the study. 

“Uh...” Chan stared at Aiden in confusion as he stood up and brushed himself off. 

“They’ve been going at it since 5th period.” Aiden told him, flashing him a smile. “They won’t shut up and told me I couldn’t contribute to the conversation because I haven’t seen Thor.”

“You haven’t seen Thor?” Chan asked, his eyes wide, trailing after Aiden as he walked in. Closing the door, Chan followed up his previous question with another. “Have you watched any of the Marvel movies?”

Aiden was silent for a moment, staring at Chan as he debated if he should answer truthfully or not. He could probably lie and get away with it, for now. But if the talk of Marvel movies and Thor continued, his lie would be seen so quickly. It was probably just best to say the through, despite how embarrassing it really was. “No, I haven’t.”

He winced at the gasp Chan gave, loud and overdramatic and he knew he had made a grave mistake with this answer. “Oh my god!” Chan turned quickly, feet shuffling as he made his way into the den. “Aiden hasn’t seen any of the Marvel movies!” Chan’s voice was nearly drowned out by the loud gasps that fell from the other’s lips, complaints filling the air to the point Aiden wanted to just leave and pretend this didn’t happen. But he knew if he did run away, he really wouldn’t live this down. 

Reluctantly, he moved into the study and stared at his ‘friends’ as they all sat around a decent-sized coffee table - books and papers laid out for their intense study session that has yet to start. 

“I can’t believe you!” Seungmin scolded with a shake of his head. 

“How have you lived this long and not watched a Marvel film?” Woojin, Chan’s friend, asked concerned. 

“We bonded over Spider-Man dude. Spider-Man! I thought I knew you.” Changbin tsked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“First of all, we were eight!” Aiden huffed and glared at Changbin, arms crossing in a mimic of the other’s posture. “Second of all, I’ve just been busy.”

“No one is too busy to watch a Marvel Movie. There is literally an entire cinematic universe.” Minho scoffed, disgusted by this horrid betrayal of his friend. 

“I have things to do!”

“Like what? Whine about how much you want to fuck Felix?” The words were said so nonchalantly that Aiden had to wonder if Changbin’s brain had been working when he so easily spilled his greatest secret. “I mean-“

“Whoa! Where did that come from?” Chan asked with wide eyes, head whipping back and forth between Felix, Changbin, and Aiden. 

“I don’t know. Changbin is out here making up stories so he can be so melodramatic.” Aiden hissed, eyes narrowed at the male and he could see Changbin shrinking in on himself, trying to apologize with his eyes. Aiden would only consider the apology if he could get out of this situation without anyone actually thinking he wanted to screw around with Felix. 

“I don’t date anyone who hasn’t seen at least Iron Man.” Felix said, a smirk playing on his lips as he joked. 

“Well damn, looks like you struck out buddy.” Chan laughed and clapped a hand over Aiden’s shoulder. “Aiden hasn’t seen a single Marvel movie.”

“Wow, you truly do love under a rock, don’t you?” Minho asked in awe. 

“Listen, Linda, can we dropped this stupid subject and actually study?” Aiden whined. 

“Marvel isn’t stupid. Marvel is life!” Seungmin protester and Aiden could only roll his eyes as he took his seat next to Changbin. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

“At this moment in time, I don’t care.” Aiden stuck out his tongue at Seungmin, snickering with the other pouted. 

“Alright children, let's get down to business.” Woojin spoke, arms extending across the table to signify the end of this discussion. 

“Fine. But this isn’t over. Thor is superior and you all will see this, I swear to you.” Minho huffed as he flipped open his book to start working. 

Felix was glad the topic had been dropped and everyone settled into a comfortable silence. It gave him time to think about things that had been said - words so haphazardly thrown about with no regard to the people involved. And what was Felix supposed to say? ‘Right on, let's find a bed and get down to business?’

How was someone supposed to act to such a crude confession as that? He wasn’t appalled by it - he knew that much - but it also wasn’t a favorable confession considering it came from Changbin. But Aiden did deny it, claimed it was made up but it was too specific to be a lie. Changbin wasn’t that good at making up stories; their C+ literature project proved that much. So he laughed it off, continuing the joke of blasphemy about Aiden never seeing a Marvel movie. But he was aware now, so extremely aware. Every few seconds Aiden would lift his eyes to sneak a glance at him, Felix catching the movement out of his peripheral. 

He was a peculiar person, Aiden. The times that they had interacted alone, he seemed so shy and uncertain. Yet when with Changbin, his personality was alimony bigger than life and on countless times pulled laughter from him over something idiotic he had said or done. There was something about him that interested Felix in some way, but was it in the way that Aiden wanted? To suddenly have feelings forced upon you pressuring, inducing anxiety-inducing and suddenly he was feeling and questioning things he had never questioned before. 

‘Would it be worth it? Was he worth Aiden’s time? Would it work out? Did he even have feelings for Aiden in return?’ 

None of those questions were getting answered and they were burning the back of his mind, demanding some closure. The offer slipped out before he could stop himself, lingering heavily in the quiet room. “You could always come over to my place and we could watch the movies.”

Aiden’s head lifted and their eyes locked. Everyone in the room stilled and Felix could swear they were all holding their breath, waiting to see how this would play out. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t in the same position. 

“Really?”

“Yeah. I own all the movies, including Infinity War. We could have a movie marathon this weekend.” It was an innocent offer and yet Felix felt so guilty because there was so much meaning behind it, to him. A spur of the moment thing that would satisfy his need for answers. He just hoped he didn’t end up hurting Aiden in the process. 

“Okay, sounds like a plan!” 

Well, that was easier than he thought. 

“Ooooh, sounds like a date~.” Minho teased, a smirk plastered on his face. “Felix and Aiden sitting in a tree -“ 

“F - U - C - K - I - N - G.” Seungmin continued, a matching smirk etched across his features as well. 

“I hate you both so much.” Aiden grumbled, the two boys giggling in happiness at Aiden’s discomfort. 

“It’s not a date,” Felix said quickly as he looked around the table. He wasn’t oblivious to the way Aiden’s face fell at his words and he quickly tried to back peddle his statement. “I mean-“

“Poor Aiden. Forever the unconfirmed gay virgin.” Changbin teases, laughing as he was punched in the arm. “Someday you’ll get some action.”

“I truly hate all of you.”

\------

Aiden didn’t understand why he was so nervous, standing in front of the unassuming oak door. It wasn’t a date, Felix had said so, despite all the teasing he had to endure afterward. They were just watching movies for Aiden’s reputation. Otherwise, he would forever be teased about not seeing Marvel movies. He honestly hadn’t thought it was a bad thing to not be up on trends and the like, but now he had seen the true nature of his friends - the snakes - and learned his lesson. 

‘Just knock. Just knock.’

Aiden willed his hand up, fist formed a bit too tightly. Three raps in quick succession and Aiden swallowed thickly. From inside he could hear a very faint ‘coming’ and his heart began to race, a cold sweat breaking out. He wanted so much to just turn around and run, not show up and give some crappy excuse as to why he couldn’t make it. But before his brain could connect with his feet, the door was already opening and Aiden was graced with the most beautiful smile and the most handsome face he had ever seen. 

“Hey!”

“H-Hi.” Aiden kicked himself for stuttering - it wasn’t cute. He cleared his throat as he brought his hands behind his back and grasped them, thumbs twirling together in secrecy. “So, ready for our marathon?” He asked and Felix nodded his head quickly, stepping aside so Aiden could come inside. Aiden wanted to be amazed at the house, but it honestly wasn’t anything spectacular. It was similar to his own, modest for a small family - though a tad bit cleaner than his own. 

He was most taken by the sight of Felix alone because outside of their normal school uniform, he hadn’t really seen Felix in anything else. His fashion style was baggy. Oversized everything that just looked so comfortable that Aiden wanted to crawl up in there with him and cuddle him. It didn’t help that Felix was adorning a bright fluorescent orange hoodie that had to be at least two sizes too big on him and gave him the cutest sweater paws he had ever seen. Aiden wasn’t sure if this was what love was, but he sure as hell knew he wanted to wrap his arms around Felix and paint his face with kisses. 

He refrained though, as hard as it was. “I got everything set up in my room.” Felix told him, the front door closing. Stepping around Aiden, he started for the stairs and Aiden followed obediently. “So we’re gonna start with Iron man.”

“Oh, so then I can date you?” Aiden instantly regretted the question as soon as he asked it, and quite literally facepalmed with a resounding smack! Felix pauses on the stairs and turned to look back at him, amusement written across his face as he raised a brow. 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” He said with a laugh. It was a joke, he was laughing it off but there was still a part of Aiden that was hoping there was something there. That maybe Felix would reciprocate. Felix turned back and Aiden silently followed the other up the rest of the stairs and to the room. This was going to be a long day. 

~*~

They made it through Thor when both boys realized the time. Including breaks between movies and dinner, the time had flown and it was nearing nine. Not nearly late enough to go to bed on the weekend, but early enough where Aiden should probably head home. And he would have if a hand hadn’t grabbed his wrist, pulling him back down on the comfy bed he had been resting on just moments prior. 

“Ask your mom if you can spend the night.” It was a soft suggestion, dare Aiden even think of it as a plea. The idea had crossed his mind many times during the day but he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, what with his emotions just hanging between them like a thousand-pound weight ready to collapse on them at any given moment. 

“Come on, Felix. I don’t think I can sit through another movie.” Aiden whined. A lie - boldfaced but his only logical excuse as to why he could leave. 

“We don’t have to watch anymore.” Felix said as he sat up from his slouched position against the wall. “We could watch YouTube or something and just hang out.”

Chewing on his bottom lip lightly, Aiden nodded as he pulled his phone out of pocket and shot his mom and quick text, asking if he could spend the night. The reply came only a few beats later and he smiled lightly. “She said it was okay.” 

“Awesome! I’ll find you something to wear!” Felix said as he scrambled off the bed and Aiden could feel his pulse quicken at the thought of wearing Felix’s clothes. Would they smell like him? Would they be just as comfortable as they looked on him? Felix dug around in his dresser, first tossing a pair of pants towards Aiden and then a shirt. “That should be good.”

“Thanks.” Aiden smiled as he picked up the articles of clothing and stood for the bed. He headed out of the room and to the bathroom just down the hall to change. Aiden was actually surprised to find that Felix’s clothes for him rather well, and they were just as cozy as he imagined. There was still a little bagginess in the sleeves, but it was really nice. He brought the front of his shirt up to his nose, sniffing lightly, a smile spreading across his lips at the honey scent that filled his senses. 

This was Felix. 

“God I’m whipped.” He muttered to himself with a shake of his head. He grabbed his clothes, folding them nicely before carrying them back into Felix’s room. Felix was laying in his bed, pillow clutched to his chest as he stared at the YouTube screen on his TV. As Aiden made his way to the bed, Felix lifted his gaze and smiled. 

“Oh my gosh! You’re so cute!” Felix squealed, sitting up. “I didn’t think you would look so cute in my clothes.” Aiden couldn’t stop the blush that spread over his cheeks, eyes lowering to stare at the ground. 

“Thanks.” Silence fell between them and Aiden wondered if Felix even heard him. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but Aiden wasn’t entirely sure what to do now and he blamed it on the fact he hadn’t been around Felix that much. Their interactions were sporadic but fun, yet being alone with him like this was different. Aiden was afraid that maybe he wasn’t that interesting to be around - mundane and boring. 

Arms wrapped around his waist and he jerked, head flying up and connecting with the side of Felix’s jaw. “Oh shit!” He gasped out, hands reaching up to cup Felix’s face and examine the already reddening skin. “I am so sorry!”

“It’s okay.” Felix spoke, jaw tense as he fought through the pain. “I shouldn’t have scared you like that.” He said as he reached up and tentatively touched the sore area. 

“I should have been paying attention. I’m so stupid.” Aiden muttered softly. His fingers lightly grazed over the area Felix had just been touching and he could feel the warmth of it. “That’s really got to hurt. Let me go get some ice for it.” 

“Or you could kiss it and make it better.” Felix offered and Aiden stilled. His eyes connected with Felix’s, wide and unsure if he heard right. Kiss it? Like actually kiss it? Put his lips on Felix? He was pretty sure that he was messing with him at this point. 

“Don’t be silly. That’s not gonna help.” He protested and lowered his hands. “I’ll go get some ice for it, okay? Just go sit back down.” He tried to usher Felix back to the bed, but the other was being stubborn and not budging from his spot, which was annoying Aiden. All he wanted to do was help the other! Now was not the time for games. 

Felix let out a huff, hand grabbing his wrist and holding it tightly, grounding him in his spot. “Changbin wasn’t kidding, you really are a virgin.” It came out as a frustrated sigh and it left Aiden gapping in shock. “You can’t even tell when someone is flirting with you.”

“F-Flirting?!” Aiden sputtered incredulously. “Since when?”

“Since Iron Man 2 when I started cuddling you.” Felix stated matter of factly and Aiden just gaped at him. “I know you can be silly and little dense, but come on Aiden.” Felix said, head tilting slightly to the side and just gave him this look.

“Okay, but I’ve never...” Aiden trailed off, embarrassed by the words that wanted to fall from his lips. Everyone already knew he was “virgin” thanks to Changbin’s big mouth but it was actually embarrassing at how innocent he actually was - with the exception of the things he did with Changbin in the privacy of their bedrooms. 

“Cute.” Felix cooed and poked Aiden’s cheeks lightly, pulling a soft laugh from him as he tried to wiggle away from Felix, but the hand on his wrist kept him from going too far. “I like you.” 

Aiden felt his heart stop - it was just as dramatic as he was - before beating rapidly in his chest as those words slowly sunk in. Felix liked him? It couldn’t be. There was no possible way. “Like as a friend right?” 

“Well yeah.” Felix nodded and chuckled. “But I like you as more than a friend as well. And I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out sometime, on a date?” Suddenly Felix was shy, blushing and looking at anything but Aiden and it was just the cutest thing he had ever witnessed. It was an impulse - he wrapped his arms around Felix and hugged him tightly, pulling him close to his body. 

“Is that a yes?” Felix asked as he carefully wrapped his arms around Aiden’s waist gently, hands resting on the small of his back. 

“It’s a big fat yes.” Aiden muttered against Felix’s shoulder. He pulled back slowly and looked at Felix, smirking. “It’s because I watched Iron Man right?” He asked. 

“Totally. You made it to Thor, that means we can also kiss.” Felix said and leaned in to do just that, but Aiden dodged him, pulling back with a shy smile. “Aiden?”

“Not yet.” Aiden told him with a slight nod. “I wanna at least get to the Spider-Man saga before we kiss.” He told him. Felix stared at him and nodded, chuckling softly. 

“Alright then, it’s a date.”

“Perfect! Now let me get ice for your jaw.” Aiden said and before Felix could protest, he ran out the room, heart still hammering in his chest at the confession. 

Did this make Felix his boyfriend? He sure as hell hoped so, he had wanted this for so long. To finally be able to date the guy he had been crushing on for so long, it was like a dream come true. He couldn’t wait to see what the future held for them.

\-----

Aiden tackled Changbin onto the floor the moment the other opened the door. Groans of pain left both of them as Aiden scrambled closer and laid himself over Changbin, hands clutching at his shirt. “Jesus Christ, Aiden. What the hell?” Changbin wheezed out between pained gasps and confused grunts as the smaller of the two wiggled himself into a comfortable position on top of Changbin. Changbin was hesitant, but after a long pause of silence, he wrapped his arms around Aiden and stroked his head gently. 

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked gently. Aiden shook his head quickly, burying his face into Changbin’s neck as he clung even tighter to him. “What’s wrong?” The worry in Changbin’s voice pulled a whimper from Aiden as he slowly pulled back and stared down at him. 

“Felix wants to kiss me.” He whispered. Changbin raised a brow, a tsk leaving him as he rolled his eyes. 

“Seriously? You nearly killed me because your boyfriend wants to kiss you?” He asked as he shoved Aiden off of him, the younger male falling to the side with a pathetic whine. “Then just kiss him.”

“I don’t know how!” Aiden wailed, arms flailing about on the floor as he kicked his feet haphazardly, nearly hitting Changbin’s stomach a few times. “I’m gonna suck! And then he’s gonna dump me and date someone who knows how to kiss! Someone who’s totally more experienced than me and would fit him better and -“ Aiden was silenced when Changbin leaned over him, giving him a hard stare. It was breathtaking. Changbin was breathtaking and if it weren’t for the fact he was already dating Felix, maybe Aiden could see himself with the other. But then again, that was also his best friend who, for all Aiden knew wasn’t gay. Though there was that one time in Changbin’s room, so he had to be at least bisexual, right?

“You just got together with him and you’re already talking about insecurities. Come on dude, grow some balls. Felix isn’t like that.” Changbin told him with a huff as he sat back. 

“I know that. Felix is wonderful. So funny, and cute and cuddly - I just want to pinch his cheeks!” Aiden cooed, a wide smile on his lips as he thought back to the last time he hung out with Felix and just how gorgeous he was with his freckles so prominent against his tan skin. 

“Gross.” Changbin gagged and Aiden pouted, kicking him lightly in the side. 

“Even if he’s adorable and shit, it doesn’t take away from the fact that I don’t know how to kiss someone. What if I’m horrible at it?” Sitting up, Aiden sighed heavily as he stared at the floor. “I don’t want to be a bad kisser.”

“Everyone is a bad kisser, Aiden. No one starts out as perfect. They only get that way by practice. So the more you kiss someone, the better you get.” Changbin advised with a nod of his head. Lifting his head, Aiden eyed Changbin suspiciously. 

“How would you know that? Who have you been kissing, huh?!” He asked, smirking as Changbin sputtered and tried to make up an excuse to not give him an answer. 

“Hey! Listen here, this isn’t about me. It’s about you!” Changbin said quickly, but the light flush on his cheeks told Aiden just how embarrassed his friend was. And now Aiden was curious as to who Changbin has been kissing. “If you’re that nervous, just practice on your hand.”

“My hand?”

“Yeah. Just keep kissing the back of your hand. Supposedly it helps.” Changbin shrugged. Aiden was a little skeptical about this, but he trusted Changbin, so he might as well as try out his advice. 

“Okay! I’ll try it and I’ll tell you how things go!”

“Please don’t. I can’t handle any more of your TMI phone calls in the middle of the night.” Changbin groaned. Aiden snickered as he stood up and dusted himself off. 

“Unfortunately you are just not gonna be that lucky. Wish me luck my friend, I have a date!” Aiden said with a renewed sense of confidence. 

“Are you shitting me? You have a date and yet you came here to cry?” Changbin asked as he stood up, arms crossed. 

“What can I say? I needed my friend’s support.” Aiden grinned as he waved to Changbin, leaving. 

~*~

Aiden shifted in the movie theater seat, scrolling through his Instagram feed as he waited for Felix to come back with their snacks. They had decided that Aiden would go in and get them decent seats before they were all taken and Felix would suffer through the long lines at the concessions to get them some delicious treats. Though Aiden wasn’t sure if he would even eat half of whatever Felix brought back. Most of the time when he saw movies, he was too engrossed in what he was seeing to even care about eating popcorn or drinking his soda. However, he strangely always had to pee afterward.

“Okay.” Aiden jumped at the sudden voice and he looked up at the blonde standing next to him. “Popcorn.” Felix called off as he handed it to Aiden. “Soda.” Aiden took the offered beverage and place it in the cup holder of his armrest, Felix doing the same with his drink. “Candy.” Four different boxes were held up and Aiden stared in awe at his choices. M&Ms, Snow Caps, Skittles or gummy bears. He commended Felix on his choices, Aiden loved them all. 

“Do I only get one?” He asked, a slight pout playing on his lips as Felix chuckled. 

“Two. Or we could share all four.” He offered as he finally sat down next Aiden, resting the boxes in his lap. “Your choice.”

“My choice?” Aiden gasped out. “Wow, buys my ticket and gives me a choice in the snacks, what a gentleman.” He teased, laughing lightly. 

“Hey, I got to treat my date right.” Felix shrugged, smiling brightly under the dim lights of the theatre. 

“You’re doing great so far, A+! Keep it up and I’ll give you a tip afterward.” 

“Oh? Well with such a promise, I’ll do my best to please you.” The teasing tone of Felix’s voice had Aiden blushing lightly as he realized the innuendos that could be drawn from his statement. Not that it was a bad thing, but the prospect of it did make Aiden nervous. 

“Okay then. I want to share all of them.” He finally decided and reached over to take the Snow Caps box, because they were indeed his favorite. There was a hum of acknowledgement as Felix worked on getting comfortable while shoveling a handful of popcorn in his mouth. Aiden worked on opening the box and pouring a few of the chocolate bites into his hand. His favorite thing to do with Snow Caps was to rub off the sprinkles on them and just eat all the chocolate first. Afterward, he would munch on the sprinkles - though he wasn’t exactly sure how that would work with sharing the food with Felix, but he’d figure something out eventually. 

The lights dimmed as the commercial for them to silence their phones played. Humming softly, Aiden popped a few more Snow Caps in his mouth as the previews started, the attention taken by the different movies that would be coming out within the next couple of months. There were few that caught his attention, mostly horror or the Marvel ones. He was so ready to watch Captain Marvel and End Game. But those were movies for another date. He had convinced Felix to instead watch a horror movie with him despite his pleas to not torture him like that. Settling back in his seat, his eyes scanned the large screen as the movie began and everything seemed to just fade away around him. 

It had to be a good half an hour into the movie when he felt a hand touch his left shoulder and he jerked, biting back a scream. Whipping his head around, he stared at the hand that was resting comfortably on his shoulder and realization struck him quickly. Turning to his right, he looked at Felix who had a bemused smile on his face and he pouted. “Rude.” He whispered lowly, leaning closer to Felix so the other could hear him. 

“It was funny.” Felix snickered, fingers flexing and tightening a bit on his shoulder. Aiden’s heart raced as he leaned closer with Felix’s guidance and he laid his head on the blonde’s shoulder. It was the most awkward cuddling he had ever done for the simple fact that there was an armrest between them that was digging painfully into Aiden’s side. He used that pain as a distraction for how nervous he felt. He was actually cuddling Felix - and while they had cuddled before - this just felt so damn intimate. He wanted more, but there was only so much he could do in public, in a movie theatre. 

He tried his best to pay attention from then on, but it was hard. Everything about Felix was intoxicating - his smell, his touch, his existence. And despite being afraid of doing something to ruin the moment or embarrassing himself, Aiden really wanted to spend more time curled up against him. It was so nice. He was curious if Felix was being affected the same way he was, or if he was watching the movie. Shyly, he lifted his head slightly to peer up at him, breath hitching in his throat as he met such an intense gaze from his boyfriend. They were piercing right into his soul and warmth was spreading across his cheeks. Aiden averted his eyes quickly and was going to lower his head again but Felix gripped his chin with his other hand - fingers slick with the butter from the popcorn - keeping him from doing so. Aiden’s breathing picked up as Felix leaned closer and he knew this was it. Felix was going to kiss him and even though he wanted to push him away, his heart was screaming at him to sit there and accept it, so he did. 

Fireworks? Hell yeah. Tingles? All up and down his spine. Felix’s lips were soft and buttery as they slotted against his own. His eyes fluttered closed as he focused on the feelings running through him - in awe at the way that just a little head tilt and slight movement of Felix’s lips against his could pull a soft moan from the back of his throat. It was soft, tender and way too fucking short. It only felt like a second had passed when Felix pulled away, Aiden leaning forward to chase after his lips for another kiss. The soft chuckle that left Felix had Aiden’s eyes opening and he pouted at him. 

“You’re so beautiful.” Felix whispered and Aiden blushed heavily as he finally pulled back and looked away. 

“Thank you.” Though he wasn’t sure if his voice could be heard over the movie. It didn’t matter though. Felix’s grip on his shoulder tightened again, pulling Aiden back against him. Aiden resumed his previous position, resting his head once more on Felix’s shoulder, eyes staring at the screen ahead, but his mind was anywhere but on the movie. 

He did it. He kissed Felix and it had been wonderful. And Felix didn’t pull away repulsed or anything. Just told him how beautiful he was. It made his heart flutter. All this time worrying was for nothing. And now that he had a taste, he wanted more. He couldn’t wait to get Felix back to his room so he could kiss him more.

\------

Aiden was frozen in shock, hand still gripping the knob of Minho’s door. He had only left for ten minutes - twenty minutes tops - to get them snacks for their cram session. A quick trip to pick up some soda, chips and other random food that he knew Minho and Seungmin would munch on while they tried their damndest to commit to memory who started music theory and why. 

Coming back, he was greeted with the sight of his two closest friends making out. Heavily making out. Slivers of skin were exposed as hands wandered over sides and backs. Soft moans flitted through the room, muted as lips pressed and loved together. Aiden knew he was gay, had known for a while thanks to Changbin’s help. But this situation brought out a whole new level of his gayness. Or maybe it was just a kink? 

He was sure it was one of the two, and either way he couldn’t really escape the arousal that started pumping through his veins. It was erotic, watching his two friends acting like the hiring teenagers that they were. And a part of him was jealous. Felix didn’t kiss him like that. Then again, they didn’t really kiss a whole lot to begin with. Not that Aiden was complaining, much, but he wouldn’t mind being pinned down and having Felix kids the life out of him like that. 

Clearing his throat, he crossed his arms, watching as the two broke apart and sat up quickly. Hands flailed as they tried to fix their clothes to look presentable. “So uh, got something to tell me?” He asked. 

“W-What? No!” Seungmin stuttered. 

“Nothing to see here.” Minho assured as he stood. “So, got the snacks?” He asked, trying to change the subject. Aiden raised a brow, not at all convinced but decided to not tease the two for now. 

“Yup! Ready to study?” He asked, eyeing Seungmin as the other slid down and moved to the pile of books resting on the small table that had been lugged into Minho’s room for their study date. 

“Yes! Let’s start.” Seungmin grunted and patted the table, Aiden moving to take a seat across from him and started unpacking the snacks. 

“Impatient.” Minho mused and smirked at Seungmin as he sat down next to the other. “Okay, first Music History class. And the History of Classical music.” He said and hummed. 

“Remind me again why I decided to go to a performing arts school again?” Aiden asked.

“Beats me, you’re not that talented.” Seungmin snickered, laughing as a chip was thrown at him. 

“Shut up.” He grumbled as he flipped his book open and pulled out the study guide the teacher had provided and started working. 

“It takes a lot more than words to make him be quiet.” Minho laughed and Seungmin pouted, smacking his arm hard. 

“Ew! Keep your sex lives to yourself! I’m working over here!” Aiden exclaimed and Minho laugher. 

“You’re just jealous. I’m sure if you asked nicely, Felix would-“

“If you want to stay friends, you will not finish that sentence Lee Minho.” Aiden raised his own to point at the other with a glare. Minho hummed, but didn’t continue and instead focused on his paper. They fell into a comfortable silence, and it gave Aiden time to think. Maybe Minho was right, maybe he should ask Felix later for a heated kiss like that.

What was the worst that could happen?

\---------

They didn’t make it to his bedroom, but that didn’t bother Aiden. With his parents out working, the living room was free to host his friends for their study session - much larger than his tiny room anyway. It was still early, students still being released from schools and it would take a while before everyone even arrived. But that didn’t stop Changbin from whining about his English presentation that he had to give and how much he hated talking in English. The other wasn’t horrible at it, but he was no native speaker. It was cute actually, how he stumbled over his pronunciation - whining that he was going to fail because he couldn’t even pronounce his own name right. Aiden took pity on the other and decided to help him practice while they waited for the others. 

“What’s your name?”

“My name is,” a pause followed by a short sigh. “Seo Changbin.”

“Nice to meet you Changbin, my name is Aiden Park.” He chuckled, shifting himself on Changbin’s lap to get comfortable. “What’s your favorite food, Changbin?”

Changbin stuttered mouth opening and closing as he tried to process what exactly Aiden had just said. He was taking it slow and using common words that Changbin should have already known if he had kept up with his English classes. He hadn’t. “Food?”

“Food.” Aiden confirmed with a nod, turning his head so he could stare at Changbin with a raised brow. “Favorite food.” He said again. 

“Uh...Pizza?”

Aiden laughed and shook his head, finding the answer to be very hilarious. “Are you asking me if you’re favorite food is pizza?”

“Ah! Favorite food!” The realization dawned on Changbin, his head bobbing - still - in agreement. “Well, that makes sense.” He mused, arms tightening around Aiden’s waist as he leaned back against the couch. 

“So is it pizza?” Aiden asked, smirking as Changbin pouted. He could see the wheels in Changbin’s mind turning. 

“My favorite food is, chicken.”

“Oh, chicken is delicious. Do you like grilled chicken or fried chicken?” Aiden spoke slowly as he threw in new words that Changbin may not know by heart yet, and also due to the fact that the longer he spoke English, the heavier his accent would become and sometimes made being understandable nearly impossible. 

“What?” Perfect pronunciation and Aiden couldn’t help but snicker at that. 

“Grilled or fried?” He asked again. “Grilled. Or fried?” He repeated in Korean and Changbin snorted. 

“Both. But how was I supposed to know those words?” He whined. “This is unfair, you’re using your natural ability to speak English against me.”

“Natural- oh my god.” Aiden laughed loudly, body shaking as his mind replayed the words over and over in his mind. The hilarity of them never died, even as he began to calm - one look at Changbin sent him back into another fit of laughter. It didn’t help that Changbin’s frown grew deeper each time, not at all pleased with Aiden laughing at him. “F-Fuck!” Aiden gasped out as he found himself being roughly shoved off of Changbin’s lap and onto the floor and despite the pain he felt in his chest and arms, he could stop laughing. 

“You’re the worst. Why are we friends!?” Changbin pouted, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes moved over Aiden’s form before he straightened up in seat as their friends walked into the room. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Chan asked, brows furrowed as he stared at the giggling Aiden who was wiping away the tears that leaked from the corners of his eyes. 

“Don’t ask.” Changbin grunted and glared at Aiden harder. 

“He - I can’t!” Aiden gasped as he slowly pulled himself up, coughing lightly as he choked on the intake of air he tried to pull into his lungs. 

“Someone gave him sugar again.” Minho cooed as he smacked at the back of Aiden’s, pulling a whine from. 

“Rude!” Rubbing his head, Aiden panted as he tried to calm himself down some more. He looked up at the others and grinned. “Changbin thinks my ability to speak English is natural.” He snickered. 

“How though?” Seungmin asked, confused. 

“Well, it’s not his native language!” Changbin pointed out. “It’s his second language!”

“It’s my native language just like Korean is!” Aiden protested and stuck out his tongue at him, Changbin reciprocating the act. 

“Alright children, behave.” Chan chuckled and shook his head.

“I’m well behaved, thank you very much.” Aiden said with a wide smile. 

“Lies. He’s a monster. Don’t let that innocent face fool you. Felix, you still have time to run!” Changbin teases as he watched the Aussie take a seat next to Aiden on the floor. 

“It’s too late for me! We made it to the Spiderman Saga! I’m in too deep!” Felix said as he clutched his chest dramatically, pulling laughter from the others. 

“Hey!” Aiden pouted and crossed his arms. “Meanies. That’s the last time I help you with your English class, fail for all I care and then you can kiss my-“

“I know full well what you’re about to say and I wouldn’t kiss it even if my life depended on it!” Changbin huffed. 

“I thought I said to behave?” Chan asked. “Am I invisible?”

“I think they need a time out.” Minho mused. “Face the corners and squat!”

“What the hell? No.” Changbin chuckled and shook his head. “We’re totally fine guys. You just don’t understand us.”

“Yeah, mom! You don’t understand us!” Aiden grinned, squeaking as Minho smacked at him. Scooting away, he hid behind Felix, using the other ad a shield. “Okay, I give! I’ll be good!”

“How did we make friends with him again?” Seungmin mused loudly and sighed as he dumped the books he was clutching onto the table. “Whatever, we got three exams to study for and if I fail them because I couldn’t study, I know something.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine.” Aiden said as he crawled out from behind Felix and sat next to him again, grinning as he stared at his boyfriend. “What do you have to do today?”

“English practice. I have to outshine Changbin.” Felix snickered.

“Yeah? Alright, let’s practice.”

“Hey! That’s not fair, you both speak good English.” Changbin whined. “Channie hyung, help me practice.” 

“The angel and devil on my shoulders are both telling me to stay out of this. Sorry, Binnie.” Chan smiled apologetically at him.

“I trusted you,” Changbin whispered. “I will remember this betrayal.”


	2. The Sweet Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I beg to differ.” Seungmin scoffed. 
> 
> “Only if you call me daddy.” Jisung smirked and Aiden choked on his water, coughing harshly as he smacked his chest quickly. 
> 
> “Ji! You can’t be saying that stuff around the virgin!” Minho poked at Aiden. “His poor heart can’t take your sinful tongue.” There was a beat of silence before Minho continued. “But I can.” He smirked. 
> 
> “Jesus!” Aiden hissed as he coughed again. “Can we not have this sexual talk in my Christian server? Thank you!” He pouted.

** _Changbin_ **: Yeah, we just got back from the movies. Felix is spending the night. We can call if you want. 

Aiden stared at the words on the screen, a wave of something washing over him. He didn’t know if it was hurt, jealousy or something. Emotions were weird to him, even though he experienced them on a regular basis - he was an emotional person. Seeing Changbin and Felix getting closer as friends just struck something inside Aiden, something he had been trying to ignore since the beginning of summer. 

** _Aiden:_ ** No, it’s okay. Don’t want to interrupt your hangout session. 

Snarky? Passive-aggressive? Absolutely but Aiden couldn’t stop his jealousy from spilling from his fingertips as he wrote. It was difficult to watch his boyfriend and best friend bond - like magnets attracting each other. And the worst part was that Aiden wasn’t even in Seoul anymore. For an entire month he was with his family on a trip to Scotland - oh how he cursed his Celtic heritage at that moment. 

** _Changbin:_ ** Dude, wtf? I offered?

But it wasn’t like he could blame Felix. Changbin was better than him, that was for sure. Even if the other had soft childlike features, he still had this demanding and dominating aura around him 75% of the time. He could completely understand the attraction. Changbin had the experience, was kind and gentle - near perfect really. And Felix? He was an amazing person, if not a bit ridiculous on the amount of memes he brought into their everyday conversations. He was affectionate and sweet, filled with nothing but laughter and a purity that was different from Aiden’s own. Aiden was just a dumb virgin, whereas Felix just had this natural innocence to him, but behind those wide, brown eyes was a little devil waiting to come out. 

In a way, Aiden could see how good those two would be together, could really understand the attraction. It didn’t mean he liked it. It didn’t mean it wasn’t hurting him. 

** _Changbin_ **: Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird for a while man?

** _Aiden:_ ** I’m fine. 

Aiden wanted to throw his phone at the wall, crawl under his blankets and just forget life existed. Or maybe he could run away and become a hermit, living his life herding sheep and living off the land. Anything would be better than to face his problems - his insecurities. He knew he wasn’t enough, wasn’t what Felix wanted, and Felix did nothing to hide it. Their once sweet and cute kisses became just motions. There was no meaning behind it and the first few times it happened, Aiden just thought he had caught Felix off guard with them. But it was a common thing now. Lifeless lips pressed against his and Aiden’s heart broke just a little more each time. 

** _Changbin:_ ** You don’t sound fine. 

** _Aiden:_ ** I’m texting, how would you know what I sound like?

There was a long period of nothing that followed that message. It was read, he could clearly see the words ‘READ’ under his message, so Changbin had seen it. Yet even after five minutes, there was still no response and Aiden worried that maybe he pushed the other away too much. Maybe Changbin had finally got tired of his shit. It only took him 8 years, surprisingly. 

His phone started ringing and he jumped, staring at the screen and reading Changbin’s name on the front. He sighed softly and debated if he really wanted answers. He didn’t, but nothing would get resolved if he didn’t. And he wanted closure. He didn’t want to lose his best friend of jealousy. A small part of him hoped that he was wrong and that it was just his brain making up random bullshit. But a part of him knew and he just wanted that confirmation. 

“Hey.” He breathed as he finally answered the call. 

_ “Are you okay?” _

“I’m fine, I told you -“

_ “You gave the most passive-aggressive answers, I know you’re not fine.” _ There was a bit of a bite in Changbin’s tone and he knew he upset him. 

“I’m sorry.”

_ “Dude, don’t apologize. Just tell me what’s going on.” _

Aiden pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, eyes closing as he seriously contemplated what he was about to ask. How fucked up would everything be if he just accused Felix of cheating on him with Changbin. Could he really handle the truth that he so desperately wanted to hear?

_ “Aiden?” _

“Changbin, you would tell me the truth, to anything I asked right?” He could feel the hesitation in Changbin’s voice before he answered. 

_ “Of course.” _

“Okay.” Aiden took a soft breath, bracing himself. “Are you and Felix...seeing each other?”

_ “Uh, yeah. What a stupid question. I just told you we got back from the movies.” _

“No, like _ seeing _ each other.” Aiden stressed the word, hoping Changbin would get it. He knew the other wasn’t as dense as he could be, but he wasn’t sure if Changbin would try and play stupid. 

_ “...yes.” _

Even though he knew the answer, it didn’t stop his heart from breaking. It didn’t keep the tears from falling. And he wasn’t mad at Changbin or Felix. Between them, Changbin was the superior pick. Aiden honestly had nothing to offer Felix, where Changbin had everything and more. Aiden was the virgin, it was no surprise to him that Felix would want someone with more experience, to match his own. 

_ “Aiden I-“ _

“It’s fine.” He whispered, swallowing down soft whimpers that wanted to escape him, hands furiously wiping at his eyes, trying to rid all traces of his pain. “Take good care of him.”

_ “Aiden-“ _

“I have to go, family stuff. See you in a week.” He rushed out, giving no time for Changbin to even respond as he hung up. His eyes stared at the lock screen, glowing brightly in the dimness of his room - Felix’s smile radiating a light that he hadn’t seen since he had taken the picture after they first got together. He didn’t bother to try and stop the tears or muffle the sound of his sobs as the screen turned black. They fell steadily, unabashedly splashing onto his phone. This was the worst pain he had ever felt in his entire life. His phone buzzed with the small chime of his ringtone notification, screen lighting up once more. 

** _Lixie:_ ** I’m sorry Aiden. I was going to tell you when you got back. I think...

The rest of the message was cut off, but he didn’t need to open it in order to know what was being said. Seeing the words, however, just made it all the more real. And this was truly the worst pain he had ever felt.

His first break up.

\-----

  


“Aiden?” The soft voice of his mother wafted through his still dark room. They had been home from Scotland for over a week and Aiden spent the majority of the time locked away because everything just hurt. Thinking hurt, breathing hurt - living hurt. He wanted nothing more than to just wither away into nothingness. Changbin and Felix had both tried to call and come see him after he returned, but he refused every attempt. He couldn’t face them, not now at least. 

“Darling its 2pm, you have to get up.”

“No, I don’t.” Aiden winced at the sound of his own voice, croaked and broken. He shifted under the covers and pulled them up higher over himself, trying to hide. He was willing his mom to just go away and leave him alone like she had many times before, but she didn’t. The door to his room opened wider and he could hear two different sets of footsteps make their way to his bed. 

“Son.” The whimper escapes him before he could stop it. It was one thing for his mom to be there but his dad too? Now he felt even more like shit. He was sure he was going to get some sort of “you’re being a disappointment” scolding and he just couldn’t take that. But it’s not like they knew what was going on. Hell, they didn’t even know he was gay. And this would be the worst way to come out to them too. 

‘Mom, Dad, I’m gay and just got my heart broken.’ Yeah, he could see that going over so well. 

The covers were pulled from over him and while his room was still dark, it was lighter than the darkness he had been hiding in. He whined loudly and fished around, trying to snag the blanket back and hide away in his cocoon again, but his father just wasn’t having it. The blanket was removed from his entire body and he shivered as the cool air caressed his overly heated skin. Huffing, he moved to hide his face under a pillow, but that too was taken from him. 

“Can’t I just be left alone?!” He snapped, rolling over and giving his parents a half-hearted glare. They stared at him, their faces set and hard, but after a moment of silence, he could see their expressions shifting and he could only imagine what he looked like. Probably a hot fucking mess - crying himself to sleep every night. Sometimes multiple times a night. 

“Honey, what is going on?” His mom asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed gently. She reached out, her fingertips barely grazing over his tear-stained cheeks. They were warm to the touch, the coolness of her touch was a relief to him. “You haven’t left your bed in days. You keep sending your friends away. Changbin has been stopping by every day since we came home.” She commented with a soft sigh. “Did you guys have a fight?”

It would be easier to just agree with that. That they had fought and that’s why he was like this. But even if he did, he was sure his parents wouldn’t fully believe him. They were much smarter than Aiden liked to give them credit for. They just always knew when things were bothering him, and that it was never what he actually told them. It was like they were his parents or something. 

“S-sorta.” He whispered, pushing himself into a sitting position, eyes trained on his lap. How could he tell them what really happened and not come out to them? It was nearly impossible. Unless he made it seem like he had liked a girl. Suddenly the idea of referring to Felix as a woman seemed pretty funny, but he bit back the laugh that wanted to escape him.

“Sorta is not yes. What happened?” His father asked, taking a seat next to his mother. Their gazes made him feel so uncomfortable and he shifted under them, thumbs twirling around each other for a moment as he debated what to say. He wanted to lie and make up some excuse. But he also wanted to tell them the truth. To just cry and scream and shout about how much he hated himself for not being enough for Felix. He needed someone else to know, to hold him and tell him it would be okay. 

“You’ll hate me.” He felt as small and tiny as his voice had sounded, like a child about to be punished for the things he had done wrong. 

“We could never hate you.” His father said, his hand touching Aiden’s bare shoulder. He wanted to jerk away from the touch, but he stopped himself because, in the end, it was comforting. It was gentle and reassuring and at that moment Aiden was so thankful he had them there. But would they be so nice if they knew their son liked kissing other boys?

“You will.” His voice wavered as tears started to gather in his eyes once more and he cursed at himself mentally. Why hadn’t he ran out of them already? He didn’t want to cry anymore, so he tipped his head back in hopes it would stop the tears from falling. It didn’t work and they flowed freely down his cheeks, adding to the dried rivulets already there. He could feel the bed shifting under them as his mother crawled closer to him on the bed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. One hand rested against the top of his head and guided it down to rest on her shoulder and that was his breaking point. The sweet gesture broke the dam and the tears fell freely, hot against his cheeks. He grasped at the front of her shirt as he turned his head and pressed his face into her neck, sobbing horribly against her. 

“Aiden we could never hate you. You’re our son, we love you.” She spoke softly as she ran her fingers through his hair gently, trying to soothe him. 

Aiden’s head shook furiously as he fought to stop his tears long enough to speak. He just ended up gurgling our garbled Korean. He took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, to stop the tears before he had trouble breathing like he usually had in the middle of the night. Minutes passed and eventually, his sobs slowed to the point he could finally speak. 

“I’m....gay.” The silence that filled the room was deafening and it felt like 100 years had passed without so much as a word from his parents. Aiden was absolutely sure they hated him and were just trying to figure out a way to get rid of him without resorting to murder. 

“Oh honey, we already knew that.” His mother said and he lifted his head quickly, brows furrowed in confusion. 

“Speak for yourself.” His father muttered. “But I don’t hate you.” He said quickly when Aiden whimpered and started sniffling once more. 

“Well, I guess I knew then. I’ve always had this feeling and with how close you were with Changbin.” Her voice was gentle, her hand once more guiding his head back to rest on her shoulder. It was nice, the reassurance that she didn’t hate him, and his father didn’t hate him either. It was a relief and he was sure this was probably a very easy coming out story. He was grateful, very grateful. It was one less pain he had to deal with. 

“Is that what’s wrong?” The question had him startled because his father sounded much closer than he had been before. When had he moved to be fully seated on his bed? “Did Changbin do something to you?” The edge in his voice had Aiden smiling slightly, if not feeling a little panicked. He never thought of his dad to be so protective but there was something in his voice that sounded like it was going to promise pain to Changbin. 

“No!” He said quickly. “Well, not really. It’s complicated and stupid and just-“

“Nothing is stupid, honey. You can tell us what happened.” His mother reassured him. He whined softly and closed his eyes as he snuggled against her, trying to use her warmth as a way to fight off the impending tears. 

“I was dating Felix.”

“That Australian boy?”

“Yeah.” He squeaked our and sniffled. “And it was fine. It was wonderful but I noticed that -“ he stopped himself, breathing deeply to regain control of his emotions. “He and Changbin... and I just wasn’t enough.” He whispered. 

“He cheated on you?” His father’s voice echoed loudly in the room and he was sure their neighbors probably heard it too. “Tell me you didn’t give that boy you’re....you know?” Aiden let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. 

“No, dad. I’m still a virgin.” He whispered, shaking his head at the grimace that crossed his father's face, but he couldn’t blame him. “And no they didn’t cheat. I don’t think. I just, I knew I wasn’t enough for Felix. I felt it in the way we kissed and interacted. It was different and Changbin is just great.” He whispered and closed his eyes. “So much better than me. I can’t blame them but it still hurts.”

“Oh, my poor baby. Of course, it hurts. You really cared about him, didn’t you?”

Aiden nodded and curled up closer to her, seeking the love and protection that only his mother could give to him. 

“That’s not right. I knew we never should have trusted that midget.”

“Dad!” Aiden whined. “Changbin’s not that short.”

“Still! How could he do that to you? Not just because you’re my son but because of how close you two are. Why would he-“ his father stopped himself and scoffed, arms crossing over his chest. “He’s not allowed to visit anymore.”

“Dad-“

“I forbid it! No one is going to hurt my son and then have the balls to show their face around here.”

“Honey.” His parents looked at each other for a moment before his father stood up and headed for the door, leaving the room without a word. Aiden frowned and lifted his head, looking to his mother. “It’s okay, he just needs a moment. But please Aiden, understand that neither one of us is upset at you for being gay or hiding a relationship. We’re just worried about you.” She whispered gently, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. 

“I know you’re feeling horrible, but how about we get you cleaned up and go out to eat? Hmm? We’ll go to your favorite restaurant and you can get as much as you want.”

“Mom, I don’t deserve you.” Aiden whispered and cried softly. She hugged him tightly and he returned it, clinging to her tightly. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, sweetie. Now let’s dry those tears okay? Go get ready and I’ll collect your father.” Nodding, Aiden pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek before climbing off his bed. He stumbled a bit, not used to using his legs after days of staying in bed. Getting his bearings, he left his room and headed for the bathroom to wash up and make him look as presentable as he could, silently thanking every deity he had learned about in school that he had such loving and caring parents. He couldn’t have asked for better ones.

\----

  


Aiden knew he was avoiding the situation, but could anyone honestly blame him. He wanted nothing to do with Felix and Changbin, but it was difficult to not run into them when he left the house. Seoul’s was not a small city, hundreds of thousands of people lived there and visited at any given point in the year. It should be a rare occurrence to run into the two, the odds were so low. And yet Aiden found himself dodging, hiding and running when he spotted one of them. 

He knew they needed to talk - to address the situation that happened but the pain was still fresh in his heart and all Aiden wanted to do was just feel better and move on before he confronted the cause of his pain. He really wished that Changbin and Felix would understand that. 

Slipping between the bodies in the packed arcade store, eyes scanning the area for something to do. His attention was drawn to the small crowd that was forming around the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Aiden hadn’t seen one of those in such a long time, it was a blast from the past and he was surprised this place even had it. As he approached, he could hear a voice over the booming music of the machine and he slipped himself between small gaps to get a clearer view of what was going on. 

“Thank you for support. Chose my next song and I’ll do it on hard. Watch me beat this machine and get the highest score!” The boy that stood before the machine was talking fast - almost as fast as Changbin - his eyes wide as he scanned the crowd. His cheeks were chubby as they stretched in a smile and Aiden was reminded of a squirrel. He was pretty cute. Someone from the crowd shouted a name that Aiden didn’t quite catch and the kid pointed towards that person. 

“Excellent choice! Here we go!” He said and climbed back onto the platform. Putting in his coins, he selected the song and difficulty before getting into position. He was poised, ready and as the song started, Aiden’s eyes widened at how fast the arrows came raining down, the direction and different beats that they stood for. And this guy hit every single one of those arrows. Perfects we’re flying left and right and Aiden felt his heart swelling with such admiration. As the song came to an end, the guy hit each arrow perfectly, spinning around and bowing as his perfect score flashed across the screen. The crowd around him cheered happily, giving out praises before they slowly trickled off to do their own thing. 

Aiden stood there still in awe, watching as the guy entered his name so he could have the top score. Han. Well, that was a unique name. Aiden bit his bottom lip as he stepped closer, grabbing onto the safety rail of the platform lightly. “You’re amazing!” His voice startled the other, and he watched him turn around with wide eyes and a hand over his heart. 

“Shit, you scared me.” He laughed with a slight bow. “Thanks, did you enjoy the show?”

“Yeah! I’ve been we seen someone move like you before.” Aiden praised him. “You got the best rhythm I’ve ever seen.”

“Thanks man, maybe I can teach you.” He chuckled.

“I’d love that. My name is Aiden.” 

“Jisung, but my friends call me Han.” Introductions finally out of the way, the two stared at each other briefly before Jisung hopped off the platform and leaned against the railing. “So, Aiden, how are your basketball skills?” He asked. 

“Decent.” Aiden answered with a small shrug of his shoulders. “Why?” He asked. 

“Think you can beat me?” Jisung asked. 

“You’re on.” Aiden grinned and pushed off the railing and headed for the basketball game near the back of the arcade center. 

Three hours later saw the boys sitting outside a fast-food restaurant, stuffing burgers into their mouths as they laughed about everything and nothing. Aiden found Jisung’s company wonderful. The older male was filled with jokes, insights and a strange way of viewing life that always managed to bring a smile to his face. They clicked well and Aiden was excited to see how their friendship would bloom over the coming months. 

“So why are you alone on this wonderful day?” Jisung asked as he swirled a fry in his ketchup and mustard mixture. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Aiden counter, eyes watching Jisung with curiosity. 

“I asked you first though.” Smirking, Jisung lifted his eyes to stare at Aiden. “So?” He asked. Aiden looked away quickly, a sigh leaving him as he picked up a fry and ate it slowly, taking his time to savor the salty goodness on his tongue. He was procrastinating and he knew it. 

“I needed to get out and enjoy life. So I decided to go to the arcade.” He said after a few moments of debating on how to tell the other. 

“Ah, you don’t have any friends though? You seem really nice, I’m surprised you didn’t come with friends.” Jisung commented, watching the way Aiden flinched at the comment and raising a brow in curiosity. “Something happen?” He asked. 

“It’s complicated.” Aiden said quickly as he grabbed a handful of fries and stuff them in his face. That’s all he wanted to say to his new friend. He didn’t want to be rude, but it wasn’t Jisung’s place to pry into his life like that and Aiden didn’t feel comfortable sharing that painful memory. He just wanted to forget about it. 

“I’m sorry.” Aiden lifted his gaze to look at Jisung, a soft whine leaving as he saw the frown plastered on the other’s face. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine.” Aiden assured him, giving him a small smile. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. So, why were you here alone?” Aiden decided to shift the focus from him to Jisung. 

“Me?” Jisung asked as he leaned back in his chair, arms rising above his head as he stretched. “Well, my family just moved back here from Malaysia. Starting my second year at a new high school in a week and I have absolutely no friends.” He said and laughed. “So I decided to come to the arcade and let off steam and just enjoy myself before hell begins.”

“Hell.” Aiden snickered and laughed, covering his mouth before he could spit food everywhere. “You don’t know the half of it!” He snorted, coughing as a piece of his burger went down the wrong pipe. Smacking his chest, he grabbed his drink and drank about half of or before coming back for air, coughing once more and finally clearing out his windpipe. “Holy Jesus.” He gasped. 

“Dude, it wasn’t that funny, no need to die.” Jisung chuckled. “But are you alright?”

“I’m good.” Aiden croaked out, giving him a thumbs up. 

“Thank god. I would hate to lose my first friend over a stupid comment.” Jisung huffed, a tiny smile on his lips. 

“Don’t worry. It takes a lot more to get rid of me. Trust me, I’m like a parasite. I attach myself to you forever.” Aiden said and reached over the table, the tips of his fingers touching Jisung’s arm in a light grip, teasing him. Jisung laughed and shook his head. 

“Just remember to pay rent.” He said. 

“As long as you remember to feed me once and awhile.” Aiden winked at him and Jisung snorted with laughter. 

“No problem.”

\-----  


It was dark by the time the group had arrived at the fair. It had been Minho's idea to go, and Jisung's suggestion to go at night. Something about _ 'It's pretty at night with all the lights on.' _ And Aiden honestly couldn't argue with that. Pulling into a parking spot, he marveled at the large fair to his right, lights flashing and spinning brightly on every ride that was operational. The Ferris Wheel was, of course, the most beautiful ride out of them all. It's lights flashed and spun, blinking steadily before moving in a wave of beautiful greens, blues, and purples. The highlight of the event and the ride that Aiden wanted to go on the most. Mostly because he just absolutely loved being high in the air and staring out at the city of Seoul. 

"Finally! My legs were getting cramped." Woojin whined as he opened the passenger door and got out.

"Listen! It's not my fault you all picked me up late!" Hyunjin pouted as he opened the back door of the car, getting out first. Aiden followed behind him, Jisung crawling out last while Chan rounded the front of the car from the driver's side. 

"It's your fault for having such long legs." Woojin pouted, though there was a hint of a smile on his lips. Hyunjin could only roll his eyes at the other, sticking out his tongue before slinging his arm around Aiden's shoulder.

"Well next time I should ride shotgun then, Hyung." A simple shrug of the shoulders had Woojin snorting and Jisung laughing, the older male latching onto Hyunjin's arm, tugging him towards the ticket booths. 

"Where are the others?" Aiden asked, eyes scanning the large crowd of people that were entering and exiting the fair, searching for any familiar looking heads. "Weren't they going to meet us here?" 

"Oh well, you know Minho." Chan laughed lightly. "He probably got sidetracked by something." 

"I wouldn't be surprised. I'm amazed he even manages to get to school every day." Hyunjin snickered.

"If that ain't the truth. I remember two weeks ago I texted him ten minutes before the bell rang, asking where he was. I've never seen a more disheveled look in my entire life. I still don't know how he got out of bed, dressed and to school in ten minutes." Aiden recounted with a light smile. "That hyung." he tsked to himself, earning laughs from the other four.

"Which hyung?" Aiden jumped at the voice, whirling around to lock with Minho, brow raised in interest.

"Oh, you know...that one hyung..." Aiden trailed off, trying to save his ass and failing miserably. "You know what, the last one to the ticket booth buys for everyone!" he shouted and turned, darting off to the nearest ticket booth. Footsteps echoed behind him and he turned, staring at Hyunjin and Jisung, behind them was Felix, Changbin, Seungmin, and Minho. He was a bit nervous for Minho to be there, but he hoped the others would drop the previous subject in exchange for getting either Chan or Woojin to pay for their tickets. After all, they were the oldest in their group of friends.

“Nine please.” Hyunjin ordered, flashing a smile to the ticket woman who was eyeing each and every one of them. 

“Any adults?” She asked. Nodding, Hyunjin turned and pointed to Chan and Woojin as they finally approach, eyeing him before looking to the woman. 

“Two adults and seven kids.” Despite the tickets only being for adults and children, the group still groaned at being referred to as children. It wasn’t their fault they weren’t of age yet. 

Woojin paid only after Chan batted his eyes at him. A pretty quick fight that leads to Hyunjin and Seungmin giggling like little kids before snatching their tickets from Woojin’s grasp and heading inside. 

“Alright, split up and meet back together in an hour?” Minho asked, arm sneaking its way around Jisung’s waist, pulling a flush from the other male. 

“Sounds good! Don’t get lost, check your phones regularly.“

“Yes, dad.” Felix grunted as Chan rattled off instructions. His eyes moved from the older man who was now whining about not being taken seriously and moved over to stare at Aiden, the other boy humming softly and playing with his ticket. 

“Alright, be off you little hellions!” Chan waves his hand and Minho practically dragged Jisung through the gates of the fair, their squirrelly friend stumbling to keep up after the older male. 

Aiden was much more calm about his arrival into the fair, handing his ticket to the ticket bearer before slipping through the gates. His eyes scanned the various food stalls in front of him, debating if he wanted to eat first or if he wanted to follow the high pitched screams of the patrons on the various rides. 

“What are you doing first?” Aiden jumped at Felix’s voice, hand resting over his heart. Honestly, he needed new friends. The ones he currently had were hell-bent on giving him a heart attack for some reason. Grumbling about silent ninjas and needing collars with bells, Aiden lifted his gaze to meet Felix - suppressing the urge to run away for the simple fact that he hadn’t been alone with Felix or Changbin for a few months now. Not since the breakup. And while he liked to think he had gotten over Felix and forgave Changbin, seeing the two always felt like they were just ripping off the scabs of his slowly healing heart and making it bleed all over again. 

“Oh, um I was debating if I wanted to eat first or go on rides.” He said, averting his gaze from the other. 

“Always the hungry one.” Changbin teased lightly as he saddled up next to Felix. Yet, despite the teasing tone, there was an air of tension surrounding them and Aiden knew it was his fault. They were trying to make up with him, to get their friendship back to where it had been. But it was hard. How in the world was he supposed to act normal around them after finding out that they had started seeing each other when he had been away in Scotland. It was such a horrible betrayal, a self-esteem wrecker and that was saying a lot because Aiden didn’t have that much self-esteem to begin with.

“Probably better to ride first and then eat. Otherwise, you’ll just end up puking and that would be _ no bueno. _”Felix laughed and Aiden nodded, a shy chuckle leaving him. 

“Guess you’re right. So I’m gonna go find some rides to ride then.” Aiden mused. 

“Cool, wanna go together?” Changbin offered, eyes intense as their gazes locked. Aiden could feel Changbin peering into his soul and he felt so _ vulnerable _. “Like old times.”

“Old times.” Aiden repeated, heading nodding slightly. “Um, sure. If you don’t mind me third-wheeling.” He agreed so easily, shrugging it off like it was no big deal but it was. This was a huge deal and Aiden wasn’t really sure if he was ready for this kind of scenario. Though if things went south, he could always run away and then just text one of the others to meet up with them. 

“Awesome!” Felix’s eyes sparkled as his face lit up. Reaching out, he took Aiden’s hand and pulled him forward. “Let’s do the Himalayan ride! It’s the best!” He said and Aiden whined. 

“Wait, is that the one that crushes the person sitting on the left side?” He asked worriedly. 

———

It was _ indeed _ the one that squished the person on the left side. And Aiden felt extremely horrible for all the pain and torture he knew Changbin was going through as they went around in a circle, music blaring loudly and practically drowning out their screams. Aiden did his best to keep himself from slide further to the left as they spun, but gravity (and Felix) made it near impossible for him to not press hard against Changbin’s side. 

As the ride finally came to a halt, Aiden was trying to scoot away but Felix was still plastered to his body and was making no effort to move. “Binnie, are you alright?” The nickname rolled off his tongue like second nature and it sparked an emotion deep within his chest that he hadn’t felt in such a long time. A warmth blooming slowly as he stared at Changbin, the other nodded his head slowly as he tried to gather his bearings. 

“I’m fine.” He answered after a moment of silence. He flashed Aiden a small smile for added reassurance and Aiden felt his heart flutter, which was something it had never done before. Except for maybe that one time over the summer. The latch to their door was unhooked by the ride attendant who was making his rounds. Door swinging open, Felix crawled out before yanking Aiden out with him. 

“Come on! We have to ride Hydro Shock!” Felix shouted as he sprinted towards the exit of the ride, leaving Aiden to steady his legs and wait for Changbin to crawl out of the cart. 

“How do you keep up with him?” Aiden asked breathlessly. 

“I could ask the same for you. Was he always this hyper?” Changbin asked and Aiden laughed. 

“No. I bet Jisung snuck him sugar earlier.” Aiden theorized and Changbin snorted. 

“Wouldn’t be surprised.” He shrugged and sighed. “Alright, let’s hurry before he gets himself in trouble.” Nodding, Aiden followed Changbin out of the ride and onto the grassy field, heading in the direction they had seen Felix disappear in. It didn’t take them long to find him either, the hyperactive teen was waiting only a few feet away from them and eagerly grabbed their hands when in reach and dragged them to the most ominous looking ride ever. 

The hydro shock was a pendulum-type ride, the arm attached to an A-frame of flashing lights of purple and blue. The arm itself extended to the ground and branched off into six separate arms, each hosting a row of four seats shining bright green. 

“This is death.” Changbin gulped and Felix laughed. 

“This is going to be fun!”

“This is how we die!” Changbin whined, being overly dramatic and Aiden couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Oh come on Binnie. I don’t remember you being such a baby.” He teased, taking a step closer to Felix to show he was siding with the other. 

“I am a man!”

“Oh yeah? Prove it. Ride the ride with us.” Aiden challenge, eyes hard as he took in Changbin’s reaction. The confidence on Changbin’s face wavered for a moment before setting and he puffed out his chest. 

“Alright! Let’s go then!”

“Yay!” Felix cheered happily and ran to get their place in line. 

———

"Jesus, what happened to you two?" Minho asked as the group finally met back up near the food stalls. Their eyes were locked on the very pale and shaking Aiden and Changbin. "Looks like you two died or something." he commented.

"We did." Aiden groaned as he leaned against Changbin, stomach still doing flips from the last ride they had gone on - the pirate ship. Aiden was used to the pirate ships that just swung back and forth, going high and fast. He should have known it was a different kind of ride when the ship had actual harnesses to keep them in place. The first time it went up and almost completely upside down he had screamed so hard, begging for his mother. It was also the moment he promised to never let Felix pick the rides for them to go on, ever again.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad!" Felix laughed happily as he moved to the others and hummed. "So what are we eating? I'm famished." The smile he had could light up the entire area and it was killing Aiden. How could he be so happy after riding that death trap? Truly, never again would he trust Felix.

"Pirate ship?" Jisung asked as he moved over to the two and they nodded. "Damn, I'm sorry guys." he laughed and patted Aiden's back gently. "Hey, they have some games that look pretty cool. After eating, wanna play with me?" Aiden's eyes lit up at the mention of games and he nodded his head quickly.

"Hell yeah! I gotta redeem myself after you cheated so badly at Mario Kart the other day."

"I didn't cheat!" Jisung gasped out, face scrunched up as he stared at the other. "How dare you even think that. It's not my fault you suck at the game."

"I don't suck! I-"

"He swallows." Changbin commented, eyes wide and innocent, yet the smirk playing on his lips broke any illusion of innocence that Changbin was trying to go for.

"You- I do not swallow!" Aiden shouted, pulling stares not just from the others, but from people passing by. His cheeks flared with heat as he glared at Changbin, the older male cackling loudly. "Keep laughing, I hope you choke." he grunted and stomped away. He made his way down the row of stalls, glancing at each one that offered food in hopes it would ease the anger he was currently feeling. He stopped at a stall that was selling hot dogs and corn dogs and Aiden was truly thinking about buying at least five to eat away his emotions when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he stared into the worried eyes of Seungmin.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently. Turning away, he sighed softly and nodded his head. A beat passed and he was shaking his head. "Thought so." Seungmin mused. "I don't think it was a good idea for you to spend time with Changbin and Felix after what happened." 

"Don’t you think I know that?" Aiden asked and pouted. "But you all ran off and left me alone with them."

"You didn't have to go with them."

"But they asked."

"Yeah, and if they asked, would you jump off a cliff?"

Aiden frowned and crossed his arms. "Well no, because I'm not an idiot." he said. "But that is different than blowing off your friends."

"Oh, so they're your friends now?" Seungmin asked shocked. "What happened to never wanting to speak to them again? How could they do that to you? And all that other stuff you cried to me and Minho about?" he asked, Aiden's shoulders sagging with each word that Seungmin spoke because it was true. He had said all that and more, but at the time he had been so heartbroken. So heartbroken that he had lost someone he really liked to his best friend and that it just seemed to validate all his insecurities that he just wasn't good enough. Too inexperienced and too shy to do most of the things Felix wanted to do. It only made sense to him that Felix found someone else, but that didn't ease the pain any less.

"It's complicated." he whispered, eyes closing for a moment to try and stop the tears from falling. Seungmin's hand gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, a sigh leaving him.

"You still love him, don't you?" 

"Why wasn't I enough?" Aiden answered in return. "Why am I just so stupid? So shy and just..." he trailed off and took a deep breath. Reaching up, he rubbed his temple gently and shook his head. "They're being so kind to me and trying to make everything like it used to be and I like it." he confessed. "But I can't help but feel the hurt still. After all this time, they're just now-"

"No." Seungmin interrupted. "After all this time, you're finally noticing." he said. "They've been trying so hard to make up with you, we all can see it. But you kept running away and refusing to acknowledge them. And that's not a bad thing. I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes."

"You would have killed them and got Minho to bury the bodies with you." Aiden teased, laughing lightly as Seungmin smiled.

"Okay, you got me there. But I'm telling you this entire time, they have been trying to make things right with you. So don't blame them for you noticing now. But be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Aiden's eyes lifted, meeting Seungmin's gaze and the worry that was etched so clearly in his beautiful brown orbs. "I'll try. I can't promise anything because we all know I'm a damn idiot." he said, cracking a small smile. "I want to be friends with them again. I miss my best friend." Seungmin nodded and nudged Aiden a bit with his shoulder as he flashed Aiden a reassuring smile. 

"Everything will be okay. Now, what are we eating?" Seungmin asked and looked around at the stalls around them.

"Fifteen hot dogs." Aiden ordered, smiling at the man that had been privy to their whole conversation and was kind enough to not make them move away and serve other customers. 

"Fifteen?!"

"Listen, I'm hungry and nearly died twice on rides. I'm going to gorge on hot dogs okay? Try and stop me, I dare you." Aiden laughed and Seungmin shook his head.

"Make it twenty!" Aiden cheered at the order, adding drinks for them and standing off to the side while their order was filled.

———

Aiden grinned as he one at the clown water game, his balloon bursting just seconds before Jisung’s. “Yes! Redemption!” He shouted as the game announcer walked over and gave him the option of the small plushies hanging above their heads. He stared at each one, musing over which to get before finally picking the Pikachu plushie. 

“You got lucky!” Jisung pouted, making Aiden laugh as he smacked Jisung’s shoulder with the toy. 

“That’s right! Great game though.”

“It was so fun.” Jisung agreed as he wrapped his arm around Aiden’s waist and left the booth with him, humming to the random tunes that were being blasted at them from various games, rides and the general music of the fair. “So what’s next on our list?”

“I don’t know. Any game where the prize isn’t a fish though.” Aiden said as they walked past a duck fishing game, colorful fish swimming in small bowls as the prize for winners. “We could do the haunted house ride or the mirror funhouse?”

“No and no. I hate scary things and I get vertigo easily.” Jisung whined and pouted. Aiden sighed and shook his head, resting it on Jisung’s shoulder as they walked. “Hey! There are Felix and BinBin! Let's go bug them.” Aiden gave a light hum in acknowledgment, following Jisung over to the two. 

“Whoa.” He gasped as he stared at the large bear in Changbin’s arms. It was almost the same size as him. “How did you get that?”

“Felix played seven games.” Changbin said as he grabbed the bear arm and made it wave. “Hi, Aiden and Sungie. My name is Momo.” Changbin spike in an exceptionally high voice that had Aiden laughing. 

“Momo? From Twice?” Jisung asked as he mimicked a few moves from one of the songs. 

“That fact you know how to do the dance is scary.” Aiden snickered and hummed, patting the bear on the head. “Good luck to you Momo. Maybe you’ll survive, maybe you won’t, living with this fool.” He teased and Changbin pouted, hitting Aiden with the bear’s arm. 

“So rude! Binnie wouldn’t ever hurt me!”

Aiden laughed softly and shook his head. “Of course not.” He said and hummed softly. “What are you two up to now?” He asked. 

“Oh, we were thinking of doing the Ferris Wheel and then seeing what the rest were up to. Kinda bored. We’ve ridden everything already.” Felix said as Changbin nodded. 

“Oh sounds like a good idea! Let's all do the Ferris Wheel and then go home. I’ll text the group chat.” Jisung said as he removed his arm from Aiden and pulled out his phone. Aiden hummed as he watched Jisung, missing the way Felix and Changbin shared a look and looked at him. 

“Okay!” Jisung announces. “They’ll meet us there. Let's go!” He said excitedly and took Aiden’s hand, dragging the boy away with a laugh. 

Making their way to the Ferris Wheel took all of three minutes, the others standing by the entrance waiting for them when they arrived. 

“Alright, how should we do this?” Chan asked as he looked at everyone. “If we do pairs, someone will be riding alone.”

“I don’t mind riding alone.” Aiden said with a smile. “So you guys pair up.”

“Are you sure?” Jisung asked and raised a brow. “You could ride with me and Minho.”

“When did I agree to be your buddy?” Minho snorted and Jisung rolled his eyes. 

“Like you wouldn’t be.” He threw back and Minho shrugged. 

“You’re not wrong.”

“It’s okay guys. I’ll be fine on my own. I’m a big boy now!”

“Holy shit! And we missed it?! I bought you big boy panties and everything!” Hyunjin laughed, Aiden pouting and pushing the other as he doubled over with laughter, the others following. 

“Rude! I need new friends!” Aiden pouted as he moved to stand in line. 

“You know you love us.” Woojin commented with a smile. 

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Aiden mumbled, head tilted up as he watched the Ferris Wheel spun slowly, letting off people one compartment at a time and loading up with new passengers. 

“How many?” The ride attendant asked, looking to Aiden. 

“On-“

“Three.” Changbin’s voice startled him and he looked back at him in shock. “We’re not gonna let you ride alone.” He said with a shrug. 

“Alright, get on.” The attendant opened the gate, motioning to the waiting car. Aiden hummed and stepped through, walking up onto the platform and over to the car, climbing in. Changbin entered behind him and Felix brought up the rear. The door closed and locked behind them and the ride moved slowly so the next car was brought down closer 

“You really didn’t have to do this.” Aiden said as he sat opposite of the couple, eyes moving between the two before glancing out the car window. 

“We wanted to.” Felix said as he shifted and placed the large bear next to Aiden and smiled. “You don’t mind, do you?” He asked. 

“No! I just figured that you guys would want, you know, time alone.” His voice tapered off into a whisper as he drew his lower lip between his teeth. 

“Why would we want that when we could spend time with you?” Changbin asked and Aiden snorted, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh please, like why would you want to spend time with me?” He asked as he slouched back against his seat, arms crossed. “We all know I’m not worth that much.”

“Aiden...” Changbin said sadly. 

“You do know that’s not true right?” Felix asked brows creased together tightly. 

“It’s not? Really? Because it used to be you and me and now it’s you and him.” Aiden waved his hand at the two. “So tell me where the lie is.”

“The lie is that whole statement.” Felix grunted, hands clutching at his pant legs. “You never let us actually talk to you about what happened.”

“What is there to talk about? I left, you two got together and then we broke up over text.” Aiden said. “Seems pretty cut and dry.” He said as he turned to look out the window, watching as the city skyline slowly came into view as the last of the cars were loaded on the wheel. 

“It’s not and if you would just shut up and listen to us -“

“I don’t have to do anything.” Aiden cut Felix off, never bothering to look back at them. Silence fell over them then, no one daring to say anything as the Ferris Wheel finally began and their cart was slowly brought back down and began the cycle back up. 

After what felt like an eternity, Changbin finally broke the silence. “We want to date you.” Aiden’s head whipped around and he frowned, staring at the boy he had once called his best friend. 

“What?”

“We want to date you, Aiden.” He repeated. Aiden stared at him, struggling to process exactly what he just heard. How could Changbin just say that? And so carelessly too?

“Is this some sort of sick joke?” 

“No, it’s not. And if you had just given us the chance to explain everything to you before, you would have understood what happened.” Changbin told him. Aiden lowered his eyes and he sighed softly before nodding. 

“Okay then. Explain.” He said, lifting his gaze to meet theirs.

“I loved you.” Felix started. “I still love you. What we had was special and I enjoyed every moment of it. But I also enjoyed my time with Changbin too. He makes me feel the same way you do. There’s a difference between you two, but I know what I feel is the same.” Felix explained. 

“How? How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.” Felix said honestly, lifting a hand to run through his hair. “But you both can smile and my heart will flutter. And when you laugh I just find myself melting. When you left, I thought it would be a good time to confront Changbin about it. I figured if things went south, at least you weren’t there and caught in the middle of it.” He said. “I didn’t want you to have to choose between us.”

“Okay, so then obviously Changbin returned your feelings.” Aiden said with a raised brow. 

“I did.” Changbin hummed and smiled. “And then I told him how I felt about you. And all the times we shared together.”

“Wait, you told him about that one time in your room?” Aiden asked. 

“And that one time in your backyard. And all the times you called me to tell me about your fucking dreams.” Changbin laughed and Felix snickered. 

“Never knew you thought about me like that though.” Felix commented. Aiden groaned and covered his face, turning his body away to try and hide from their eyes - not that it was working. 

“I can’t believe this.” He whined. 

Changbin laughed as he stood and scooted himself over to the other bench, taking a seat next to Aiden. Reaching out, he grabbed Aiden’s wrist and pulled them from his face, their eyes locking for an intense second before Aiden looked away. “That whole day was a mess Aiden.” He said gently. 

“Which day?”

“_ That _ day _ . _” Changbin said pointedly. “Felix and I were trying to figure out what exactly we were going to do and how to tell you we wanted a threesome relationship. You already seemed off and everything I said just made it worse.” He whispered. “We tried to come over when you got back home and you wouldn’t let us see you.” 

“I’m sorry.” Aiden whispered as he pulled his hands away from Changbin and scooted further away from him, knees rising to his chest as he wrapped his arms around d his legs - trying his damned hardest to make himself as tiny as possible. 

“Don’t be.” Changbin’s face softened as he reached out slowly and stroked his cheek gently. “I understand but I just wish we could have talked earlier. I never would have taken Felix from you. I care too much about you both.” 

“Binnie~” Aiden whined. “Don’t say that. You’re making me feel worse.”

“I’m sorry. But Aiden I just need you to understand this. It was never about cheating, or you not being enough. You were always enough. More than enough that you had two people wanting you. We still want you, if you want us.”

Aiden looked between Changbin and Felix, his heart racing within his chest so fast he thought it would burst. This wasn’t what he had imagined when he agreed to go to the fair and this explanation was certainly not what he imagined it to be. That he was the one to essentially drive them both away when all they wanted was for them to come together as three. Three people in love. And while Aiden honestly wasn’t sure what he felt for either Felix or Changbin was love, he knew they were important to him and always had been. 

They held so many precious memories together and important, intimate moments that Aiden could never get back. He could never get back his first kiss from Felix. And he couldn’t get back his first handjob from Changbin. But he didn’t want them back because he didn’t regret them. They were memories he cherished and secretly he had wanted more, even through this sad and depressing time. 

And now here it was, presented to him. He just had to take it. 

“I-I don’t know. What if I’m not -“

“Don’t even finish that sentence.” Felix huffed as he shifted over to Aiden, squeezing himself between the wall and the boy. “You are enough. And you don’t need to be experienced in anything. Life isn’t about going into things experienced.”

“Well for the most part.” Changbin muttered. 

“It’s about living and experiencing as things happen. Everyone goes in blind and they learn over time.” Felix said. “We’re all still learning. So let’s learn together, as boyfriends.” He offered, and as Aiden looked at him he could see the hope shining within Felix’s eyes. And the same warmth that had filled him the first time he had laid eyes on Felix filled him again. 

“I...please.”

“Please what, Aiden?” Felix asked, cocking his head. Aiden whined softly, reaching out lightly to grab at the front of Felix’s shirt.

“I want that, please.”

Smiling lightly, Felix nodded as he leaned forward, closing the distance between them. Centimeters away, Felix’s breath ghosted over Aiden’s lips and he wanted nothing more than to feel those soft lips against his once again. “Can I kiss you?”

Nodding shyly, Aiden looked up into Felix’s eyes before letting his eyes fall closed. Felix brought their lips together in a tender kiss and Aiden sighed happily, tension melting from his body. It had been so long since he had last kissed Felix and he had missed it so much. Felix brought his hand up to cup Aiden’s cheek, tilting his head up slightly as he deepened the kiss ever so slightly. 

Breaking the kiss moments later, Aiden found himself opening his eyes and looking over to Changbin. It was difficult to judge his reaction - Changbin was very good at hiding his emotions when he wanted to. But the hard, stern expression faded and was replaced by a gentle smile when he realized the two were looking at him. 

“This is gonna be weird.” Aiden said gently. 

“Why?” Changbin asked. 

“Because you’re my best friend. It’s gonna be weird kissing you.”

“I jacked your dick, how much weirder could it get?” Changbin retired and laughed. 

“You’d be surprised.” Aiden shrugged, biting at his bottom lip. 

“Well then, I guess we’ll just have to be surprised.” Changbin said as he moved closer, leaning over Aiden slightly. Aiden could feel his cheeks flushing as his heart skipped a few beats. The closeness brought back the memories of all the intimate times he had with Changbin and the countless times he had told himself to never think of Changbin as anything but his friend. And now here they were, about to kiss. A dream come true. 

Unlike Felix who was gentle and tender, when Changbin claimed his lips, it was rough and Aiden found himself released a harsh breath through his nose as he returned the kiss. Their lips moved, sliding together as Changbin tried to deepen the kiss. Yet Aiden pulled away before he could, a shy smile gracing his lips. 

“What’s wrong?” Changbin asked curiously. 

“Nothing.” Aiden said quickly. “But um, I don’t think this is the best place to express our love, yeah?” He asked. 

“Aw, and here I was hoping you had an exhibition kink.” Changbin pouted, laughing soon after as Aiden smacked his chest a few times. “Okay okay!” He said as he pulled back and sat up straight. 

“Hey!” Felix said suddenly, grabbing Aiden’s attention as the other turned to him. “We’re at the top! Look!” He said and pointed to the window. Shifting on the bench, Aiden leaned over and looked out the window, smiling at the beautiful cityscape presented to them. 

“It’s so beautiful.” He whispered, admiring the view bestowed upon them. 

“Yeah.” Changbin whispered as he wrapped his arms around Aiden’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. “But not as beautiful as you.” 

“Oh my god! Stop, you're so cheesy!” Aiden laughed and leaned back against the other, humming. “I love being at the top of the Ferris Wheel. It’s so pretty.” Felix nodded in agreement as he leaned back against Aiden’s side and sighed, resting his head on Aiden’s shoulder. 

“Definitely the best ride here.” He said. 

“Yeah, and the best way to end the night.” Aiden agreed, whining softly as the wheel started to move once more, lowering them back down. 

“What do we tell the others?” Aiden asked suddenly. 

“What do you mean?” Changbin asked confused. 

“Oh come on. You know I told the others what happened. What do we tell them about us? Because it would take fifteen years to give them the same explanation you gave me.” 

“True. I don’t know.” 

“I say we tell them when we have to. Or if they ask. Otherwise, let’s just let them be.” Felix suggested. Changbin nodded in agreement and Aiden hummed. 

“If you think that’s best, then let’s do that.” Aiden nodded. “What are you guys doing after this?” He asked curiously. 

“Going home. Wanna join?”

Aiden took a moment to think it over before nodding. “Sure! Whose house?“

“Felix’s.”

“Perfect! We can continue the MCU marathon. Legend has it, if we get to Black Panther, we get to have sex.” Aiden smirked teasingly at Changbin’s raised brow. 

“Really now?” He asked and Aiden nodded. 

“Okay then. Let’s get our marathon on then.”

\------

  


“The fact you took them back.” Minho grumbled as he sat across from Aiden, eyeing the other who was trying his hardest to hide behind Seungmin. “We spent three hours listening to you cry! Do you know how much that hurt hyung, Aiden? I care about you and I don’t want you to be hurt again. I can’t bear to see you go through that again.” He scolded and Aiden whined. 

“I know it’s just -“

“What bullshit did they feed you?” Minho asked. 

“It wasn’t bullshit.” Aiden whispered.

“Hyung.” Hyunjin spoke up, staring at Minho. “I know I came in after all this happened, but scolding him isn’t going to help the situation. I’m sure he has his reasons for accepting their apology and proposal. We should be supportive.” 

“I agree with Jinnie.” Seungmin nodded. “Besides, I saw them trying to make things better. Aiden just was too into his feels to notice. Whatever happened happened. It happened the way it did and now they’re trying to fix it. If it means less strain in the group, who are we to stop it?”

“But what if something happens again?” Minho protested, dropping his sandwich back on his plate and reached out, taking Aiden’s hand gently. “You know I’m not really mad or anything. I just worry about you. I was there from the start of your relationship with Felix until now. I just want -“

“And I appreciate you, hyung.” Aiden interrupted with a smile. “I really do. And I know you’re just looking out for me but I have to try this. I still love him. Both of them and if I don’t I’ll just be miserable for the rest of my life - always wondering about ‘what if’.” He said and pouted. “And if I’m wrong, then I’m wrong and I get hurt. But I’ll have learned then, and work to keep myself protected and try harder to find someone who will love me for all I am.”

“Aiden, stop trying to be an adult. I miss the hyperactive brat you really are.” He chuckled softly. Smiling, Aiden shook his head.

“Silly. I’ll be back to my normal self soon. I just wanted to tell you guys what happened before you like accidentally discover it. I think it was a better decision.”

“It was. Thank you for being honest with us.” Hyunjin smiled at him. “And I hope you three are happy for a while, okay?”

“Thanks. That means so much to me.”

“Alright, enough with the sappiness though. I would like to eat my lunch and not puke.” Seungmin teased, pulling laughs from the others as they went back to eating. 

———

“And I told Mr. Jung that there is just no way I can compose four songs last minute like this!” Chan grumbled as he stared at his computer. “I mean I could do one or two by Friday, but I can’t do four.”

“I told you he was crazy, why didn’t you listen to me?” Woojin asked as he eyed the younger male with a smirk. 

“Listen, mom -“

“Damn, if this is what university life is like, I don’t want to graduate.” Jisung pouted from his spot on the floor, back pressed against the couch. His history textbook laying open in his lap. “High school is supposed to be easy too!”

“Ah, I miss the good old days.” Woojin mused with a soft sigh. 

“It was literally last year.” Minho scoffed with a laugh. “Stop trying to age yourself.”

“Back in my day, I had to walk down the halls with all my books in my hands. None of this new-fangled technology of lockers like you youngins have.” Chan spoke, voiced pitched in his playful teasing. 

“Grandpa!” Felix cheered and laughed harder when Chan smacked his fellow Aussie in the chest with a pillow. 

“Siri, how do you time travel?” Changbin asked as he held up his phone, the others laughing along with him. 

“I need new friends.” Chan groaned and rubbed his nose with the palm of his head. 

“Sorry hyung, already tried that and they’re still here.” Aiden teased as he looked up from his notebook. “But you wouldn’t have us any other way.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.” Chan grunted and sighed. “But no seriously, how the hell am I supposed to make 4 songs?” He asked. 

“I can help if you want.” Changbin offered. 

“Oh me too!” Jisung jumped in. “Just got a really high score in production class. I’m like a genius. I got you, hyung.”

“Genius? In whose world?” Seungmin asked, brow raised. 

“In my world, duh.”

“I beg to differ.” Seungmin scoffed. 

“Only if you call me daddy.” Jisung smirked and Aiden choked on his water, coughing harshly as he smacked his chest quickly. 

“Ji! You can’t be saying that stuff around the virgin!” Minho poked at Aiden. “His poor heart can’t take your sinful tongue.” There was a beat of silence before Minho continued. “But I can.” He smirked. 

“Jesus!” Aiden hissed as he coughed again. “Can we not have this sexual talk in my Christian server? Thank you!” He pouted. 

“You would think, a man with two boyfriends wouldn’t still be a virgin.” Woojin mused. 

“Back in my days, whores just ran about flashing every Tom, Dick, and Harry they saw.” Chan joked. 

“Sometimes it was a Harry dick.” Woojin added and laughed as Aiden smacked his head on the table. 

“I need new friends!” Aiden whined loudly. 

“Sucks to be you kid.” Chan smirked and shook his head. “Now, about my song production.”

———

Aiden whined as he laid back in the bed, staring up at the off white ceiling of Felix’s bedroom. The room silent, save for his soft breathing and he allowed himself to fall into the thoughts that were running over a million miles a minute. It was only a single thought, one comment that had been said that was really bugging him. 

_ “You would think, a man with two boyfriends wouldn’t still be a virgin.” _

Was it bad he was still a virgin? Was Felix still one? Changbin even? He was pretty sure that Minho had been with Seungmin at one point and now was probably chasing Jisung’s tail. Said friend most likely wasn’t a virgin from all the tales he had told Aiden about the women he had dated back at his old school in Malaysia. 

He couldn’t be too sure about Chan or Woojin. A part of him was thinking that they were dating based on their behavior, but a part of him wasn’t entirely sure they were both gay or simply had an interest in guys. And Hyunjin was a mystery to him. The little twink acted both experienced and shy and he couldn’t even decipher what was an act and what wasn’t. 

It worried Aiden. He could very possibly be the only virgin in his friend group and it seemed wrong. It’s not like he needed to have sex in order for his friends to accept him, they already did - at least he thought. It was just something about the way they teased him and Aiden wasn’t stupid. He knew they meant no harm by their words, it was all in good jest. But it was still an insecurity he had. 

Being inexperienced. And now it seemed that maybe he was the only inexperienced person in the group and it worried him. His mind drifted off to thoughts of Felix and Changbin, and what would happen when it came to that time for them to be intimate. How would he able to handle it? He could barely reciprocate the moves Changbin had used on him a while ago, he certainly wouldn’t be able to survive now that there were two of them. And what if he sucked? 

What if he couldn’t figure out how to touch Felix the right way? Or make Changbin moan? What if he couldn’t get either of them off and they were left hard and wanting - disappointed in his lack of ability?

He sighed and lifted his phone up, finger pressing and holding down the lock button until the screen flashed. “Siri, where is the nearest cliff I can yeet off of?”

_ “Okay, here is what I found.” _

Aiden’s nose scrunched up as he read the results for the nearest Cliff’s Restaurant that he could eat off of. 

“Good job, Siri. I knew I could count on you.” He sighed. 

“Oh god, Binnie it’s worse than we thought, he’s started talking to himself.” Aiden lifted his head and watched as Felix and Changbin walked into the room, arms filled with snacks and drinks for their movie marathon. 

“I knew we shouldn’t have left him alone.” Changbin tasked. 

“I should have offered him my pet rock. He’s a great listener.”

Changbin paused and stared at Felix with concern. “Right.” He said slowly and gave a nod. “Okay, so I’m dating two psychopaths.”

“Hey!”

“Hey!”

“Oh, that’s creepy. They’re even in sync. Minho warned me about you crazy people.”

“Oh my god, shut up!” Aiden tossed a pillow at him, laughing as it struck Changbin in the face. “Asshole, you know you love us.”

“I never said I didn’t.” Changbin countered as he kicked the pillow back towards the bed and walked over, setting the various cans and bottles of drinks on the nightstand. Sitting up in bed, Aiden crossed his legs as he leaned over and looked at each label. 

“Alright, we got drinks. We got snacks. I got Black Panther queued in the DVD player, are we ready for a bomb ass movie night?” Felix asked. 

“You’re way too excited about this." Changbin laughed as he took a seat next to Aiden on the bed. 

“Black Panther is my favorite MCU movie, don’t hate.” Felix pouted as he grabbed the remote and jumped onto the bed, getting the DVD screen set up on his tv. 

“No hate.” Changbin hummed and smirked. “Isn’t there a legend about having sex after watching Black Panther?” He asked. 

Aiden could feel his pulse start pounding as he stared at Changbin. There he was being so cheeky, trying to look innocent but his smirk was anything but. “I do not recall any legend. I believe that once we watch Black Panther then we can have cuddle sessions anywhere we want. A better achievement to unlock.” He said quickly. 

Felix laughed and shook his head. “We can stop with this whole ‘watching marvel movies leads to something’ joke. Really, at this point we shouldn’t base our relationship off of watching the MCU.”

“Oh lord, Felix is going to be profound again. Something about moving at our own pace and being intimate when we’re ready. And blah blah blah.” Changbin rambled on and Felix pouted. “On the nose right?”

“I hate when you do that.” Felix whined and sighed before looking to Aiden. “But he’s right. Relax babe, we won’t do anything you’re not ready for.”

“W-What?! Why do you think it’s me?” He squealed out indignantly. They both gave him a pointed look and he flushed, looking away quickly. 

“Because you’re the shy one.” Changbin cooed and reached out, pinching Aiden’s cheek gently. “I remember when you got so pouty when you couldn’t even touch my dick, and then you made such a mess.”

“Stop!” Aiden whined and pushed his hand away, smacking Changbin’s arm lightly. “That was so long ago.”

“It was. Wouldn’t mind doing it again honestly.” 

“I wouldn’t mind watching either.” Felix grinned. 

Aiden honestly wasn't sure what to say or do at that moment. Being reminded of the time he jerked off with Changbin had brought back a lot of memories and feelings that he really hadn't allowed himself to feel in a while. He could still see Changbin's face, clear as day when the other told him to cum - that thought alone sent a shiver down his spine. Did he want to do stuff with them? Of course, he did. And really he was the only one holding himself back from enjoying the company of his two boyfriends - from experiencing whatever pleasure the two could bring him. He needed to get over himself, and just let loose. But it was hard, so very hard. Especially when the insecurity of being inexperienced was one of the reasons he thought Felix had cheated on him and was going to break up with him. He had been wrong, but that didn't ease any of his feelings. It only seemed to intensify them. 

Aiden hadn't notice Changbin moving until he felt the broad, strong chest pressing against his back. Muscular arms wrapped around his waist, and had Changbin's arms always been that bulky and sexy? Since when had his best friend started working out? Last he remembered, he could barely get Changbin out of his bed to walk down the stairs to get food on some days. When did he find the energy to actually go to a gym and work out? "You know we won't force you, right?" Changbin's voice was soft, words so gentle as his lips grazed Aiden's ear and embarrassingly he whimpered. "It doesn't matter if we have sex now, next week or three years from now." he continued, fingers gently rubbing against the flat plane of his abdomen soothingly. It didn't actually help in any way to relax him and Aiden found himself even tenser than he had been just being lost in his own head. "It's not important. What is important is that you feel comfortable with us - with doing simple things." he said as he rested his chin on Aiden's shoulder gently. 

"I know." A whisper, barely audible and Aiden hated himself for sounding so timid at the moment. "I just don't want to disappoint you."

"How can you disappoint us?" Felix asked, brow raised. "Where in your mind did you come up with such a ridiculous thought?" 

"It's not ridiculous!" Aiden argued and pouted. "You both are so experienced and I'm not. Hell, I avoided kissing you for like a whole week and a half because I was scared I would suck at it!" he confessed, cheeks heating up at the memories of his flailing about Changbin's home and crying to Minho and Seungmin because he just couldn't get up the courage to kiss Felix and was too afraid that if he let his guard down and Felix kissed _ him _, the other would leave him. 

"Who says we're experienced?" Felix asked with a snort. "Really Aiden? Is that what you've been thinking about this whole time?" he asked.

"Well, yeah." Aiden whispered, eyes lowering as he stared at his lap, focusing on picking at the skin of his thumb, rather than the intense burn of his boyfriend's eyes on him. "Aren't you?"

Changbin laughed at that and Aiden knew he didn't mean to be hurtful in his laughter, but it did still hurt because he was laughing at him. At his apparently stupid thought process - not that he didn't agree, it was pretty stupid when he said his thoughts out loud. "No!" he spoke through his chuckles. Aiden could feel the rumble of Changbin's deep laughter through his chest, shaking Aiden to his core and for a moment he simply got lost in the feeling and the closeness. But when Changbin started talking again, he was pulled from his thoughts and forced himself to focus on the words being spoken. "I've kissed someone before, yeah. But I'm not experienced in anything. I jack off a lot, so does that give me experience in hand jobs?" he asked. 

"Well, I mean... maybe?" Aiden asked curiously.

"Then that means you're experienced too." Changbin pointed out. "But I haven't done anything else, with anyone, including Felix." Changbin lifted his gaze from Aiden to look at the blonde male sitting in front of them. Felix nodded his head, a soft sigh leaving his lips.

"I haven't done anything either." Felix confessed. "You were my first kiss Aiden." Aiden felt his eyes widen impossibly large at the admission. He honestly hadn't thought he was Felix's first kiss. The other seemed to be experienced in what they were doing - how their lips moved and the right amount of pressure to put to keep a kiss soft or maybe to make it a little more heated.

"But I thought-"

"That's the thing, baby. You thought, you never asked." Changbin cut him off, lips pressing lightly to Aiden's cheek. "You sit there and worry about being inexperienced, thinking the rest of us have so much experience that there is no way we could possibly want you, but we're just as inexperienced as you are." he told him. "And that's okay because as Felix said before, it's okay to be inexperienced. It's what life is about, going through the unknown and learning...together." Aiden could feel himself pouting, brows drawn together as he did his best to will the tears from welling up in his eyes. He remembered Felix saying that on the night of the confession in the Ferris Wheel. He just never thought they meant it, or what it actually meant for them. But now it was different. He was being told he wasn't alone in being inexperienced. The people he thought who were experienced, weren't and for some reason, that made everything seem okay. Because he wasn't going to be embarrassing himself or being compared to a past relationship. Everything was fresh and new for them. 

And maybe that's all Aiden had needed to know from the very start.

"I want to." he whispered, lifting his gaze to meet Felix's eyes and then turned his head to stare at Changbin.

"Want to what?" Felix asked gently. 

"Have sex. I want to, I'm just scared." He felt Changbin's arms tighten around him, pulling him back closer as he nuzzled his neck gently. 

"It's okay. We can do it when you're ready, baby. There's nothing to be scared about okay?" Aiden nodded his head slowly, letting out a soft exhale as he relaxed fully against Changbin. Lifting his arms, he held them out towards Felix, smiling as the Australian crawled into his lap and laid against him, cuddling into his chest. Aiden wrapped his arms around Felix and sighed contently, eyes closing as he enjoyed the warmth the closeness brought to him. Aiden watched as Felix grabbed the remote for his DVD player once more and started the movie, the three of them falling into a comfortable silence as they were sucked into wonders of Black Panther. The worries and fears that had plagued Aiden's mind for almost year were finally eased, assured that his two boyfriends would take their time with him and not rush him and he was sure they would make their first time together - whenever that may be - memorable. And for that, he was so thankful to have them in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, and here's to the end! I thoroughly enjoyed writing this story. I worked on it for over five months (stop and go) and I'm satisfied with how this turned out. I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you made it to the end, you are a real trooper and I appreciate you! Hope you have an amazing day, week, month and year! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my gosh! If you've made it this far, congratulations, you've survived the first half of this crappy story! XP 
> 
> I do hope you like it and the second half will be posted soon! Kudos and comments are kindly appreciated. Especially comments. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like and how crappy I am. I need constructive criticism to grow and become better!


End file.
